ISLAMABAD: As the government has declared complete lockdown Saturdays and Sundays after emergence of 2,964, new infections over the last 24 hours took the nationwide tally of Covid-19 to 72,460 on Monday.
Of this, 26,240 cases have so far been detected in Punjab, 28,245 in Sindh, 10,027 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 4,393 in Balochistan, 2,589 in Islamabad, 711 in Gilgit-Baltistan, and 255 in Azad Kashmir. 26,083 patients have so far recovered from the virus, while the death toll stands at 1,543 with 60 deaths reported during the last twenty four hours. Pakistan has so far conducted 561,136 coronavirus tests with 14,398 tests in past 24 hours. The Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department sent a summary to Chief Minister Usman Buzdar almost two weeks ago, revealing that there were an estimated 670,800 coronavirus cases in Lahore and that no residential area or workplace was disease-free in the provincial capital.
On the other hand, as Pakistan confirmed 60 more deaths from the disease during the past 24 hours, the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Monday decided to impose a complete lockdown on weekends, while keeping the shop timings unchanged for the rest of the week.
According to the NCOC, 2,964 new coronavirus cases surfaced during the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 72,460.
The NCC's decision is in direct contrast with the Punjab Health Department's recommendation of enforcing a complete lockdown for at least four weeks since a smart lockdown would not be effective anymore as all areas of the city had already been affected by the disease.
The health department stated that asymptomatic cases became the "main source of infection and local transmission" in the provincial capital and "any subsequent decision of lifting, relaxing or doing away with lockdown measures should be taken after reviewing the results of smart sampling conducted with regular intervals till the final tapering down of the virus."
The summary - signed by Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Secretary Muhammad Usman and dated May 15 - listed the results of a "smart sampling project" to "detect and determine the spread of Covid-19 and to structure and guide [the department's] response towards its containment".
Under the exercise, randomised targeted sampling (RTS) and smart sampling (SS) were carried out; the former was to determine the prevalence of the disease in occupational sectors that remained functional during the lockdown, while the latter was to understand community spread. After these exercises, the report said, it could be estimated that Lahore, which has a population of over 11 million, has around 670,800 coronavirus cases.
But as of June 1, the entire Punjab province has officially reported just 26,240 infections and 497 fatalities.
Analysing the data from various hotspots including workplaces and residential areas, the summary noted "a worrisome picture of Covid-19 prevalence" in communities, with 5.18 per cent infection rate for RTS and 6.01 per cent for SS.
"This means that no workplace and residential area of any town is disease-free and, as such, Lahore exhibits an alarmingly similar transmission pattern," it added.
Elaborating on the findings for the testing carried out in the provincial capital, the summary stated that six per cent of all those who were tested turned out positive for Covid-19, while some towns showed a positivity rate as high as 14.7 per cent.
"These cases being asymptomatic could not be reported to health facilities, but became the main source of infection and local transmission," the report stated.
"The town-wise breakdown shows a value of more than three per cent for all towns - except Wagah Town - and ranges between 2.11 per cent and 9.33 per cent," it added.
The summary also stated that people over 50 years of age are the ones most affected by the respiratory illness, as is reflected in international literature and research.
It further stated that any decisions regarding lifting or enforcing lockdown measures can't and shouldn't be taken in isolation.
"It should be necessarily articulated through larger consensus and based on evidence gathered through smart sampling and testing," it added. The summary further said that the sampling exercise was carried out with the technical assistance of a working group, consisting of a panel of experts that was constituted on the directives of the provincial cabinet to provide an international perspective and input to determine Covid-19 prevalence.
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