Rapid surge in Covid-19 cases: Umar warns of further curbs in next two weeks if SOPs violated

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar Wednesday, while expressing grave concern over the rapid surge in Covid-19 cases in the country, has warned that the government is running out of options, and if the masses did not follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs), further restrictions in the next two weeks will be imposed.

Addressing a press conference, after chairing a high-level meeting here at the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), Umar noted the rising spread of the coronavirus in the country, and said there might come a point in the next two weeks, when the government would be left with no choice but to close down more sectors.

Regretting the public's "non-serious attitude" towards the deadly virus, the NCOC chief said a drastic decision would have to be made, if the nation did not stand united in the fight to contain the second wave of the Covid-19 infections.

He noted that the government had limited public gatherings to 300 but the decision was not being implemented. "Due to this, he said, the coronavirus spread has increased."

Umar also termed the opposition leaders' political statements on coronavirus as "dangerous", adding the public was not taking precautions due to the contradictory messages it was receiving.

"One of the major differences from the first wave is that there is no unified stance on coronavirus second wave," he said, appealing to political leaders and the masses to follow Covid-19 SOPs.

"Democracy does not mean political leaders risk people's health and employment," underscored Umar.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's coronavirus cases tally has reached 428,234 and death toll 8,566 as Sindh and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) jointly reported 2,094 new cases and 19 deaths.

The Covid-19 data released here on Tuesday evening by the Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah's office said the province had detected 2,003 Covid-19 fresh cases and 18 deaths during the last 24 hours.

In a statement, he said after the detection of over 2,000 cases, the provincial total had risen to 189,687, while the death toll stood at 3,099.

Coronavirus data released by the AJK Health Department announced detection of 90 new Covid-19 cases, one death, and 83 recoveries, taking the corona infections to 7,517 and recoveries 5912, while death toll to 183.

Since the outbreak of coronavirus, so far the AJK health department has conducted 89,114 tests. According to the AJK Health Department, 1,422 corona patients are under treatment.

Meanwhile, data released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) in the morning said that on Monday Pakistan detected 2,963 cases by conducting 33,610 tests and recorded 60 Covid-19 deaths.

According to the NCOC, Sindh is on top with 189,687 Covid-19 cases, followed by Punjab with 124,804 cases, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with 50,506 cases, the Islamabad Capital Territory 33,420 cases, Balochistan 17,540 cases, AJK 7,517 cases, and Gilgit-Baltistan 4,761 cases.

While on account of corona deaths, Punjab is on top with 3,242 deaths, followed by Sindh with 3,099 deaths, KP 1,429 deaths, ICT 345 deaths, AJK 183, Balochistan 170 deaths, and Gilgit-Baltistan 98.

According to data issued by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), coronavirus case positivity in Karachi surged by over 21 percent for the second consecutive day.

The port city recorded at least 1,242 new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday followed by Hyderabad with positivity rate of 19.03 percent, Mirpur 13.16 percent, Rawalpindi with 13.03 percent, Peshawar with 13.02 percent, and Abbottabad at 11.82 percent.

Sindh is top on with 13.1 positivity rate followed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa at 10.6 percent, AJK at 9.8 percent, Islamabad 6.3 percent, and Balochistan 6.5 percent, Punjab 3.9 percent, and Gilgit-Baltistan 3.7 percent.

To contain the spread of the Covid-19, the government has imposed various restrictions across the country as per the recommendations of the NCOC.

The federal government has made face masks mandatory in public spaces, limited large public gatherings to 300, banned indoor weddings, closed shrines, cinemas, and theatres, and instructed public and private offices to adopt work-from-home policy and 50 percent occupancy.

The federal government also announced that educational institutes will remain closed from November 26 to January 10.

The students will study at home or get weekly homework till December 24 and winter vacations will start from December 25.

The schools will reopen on January 11 - which is subject to the coronavirus situation then.

All examinations have been postponed except admission and recruitment tests.

Despite the government's restrictions, it has been observed across the country majority of the masses are not following standard operating procedures (SOPs) as people are going to market places without wearing face masks, passengers are traveling inside and outside the cities without masks.

After the closure of educational institutes students have thronged to playgrounds, indoor sports clubs including snooker, billiard and playing in the streets as well.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020