ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar Saturday said the COVID-19 positivity ratio in Peshawar city was skyrocketing as it moved up to 13.39 percent yesterday but the opposition was still.

Responding to stubborn attitude by the opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to hold Jalsa in Peshawar on Nov 22 (Sunday) despite danger of spread of COVID-19, the minister in his tweet said there were over 202 critical COVID patients in the city’s hospitals out of those 50 were on low flow oxygen.

Similarly he said 134 patients were on high flow oxygen and 18 on ventilators and on Friday, 14 new critical COVID patients were admitted in the hospitals of Peshawar.

But still PDM thinks “we will be safe on the stage so who cares what happens to citizens”, he added.

Asad Umar said in 2013, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) won four out of four seats in the city in 2013, while it won five out of five in 2018.

“Therefore by holding the political Jalsa, the opposition could do nothing but to endanger the health and employment of the local people”, he said adding “Perhaps the opposition wants to revenge from the people of Peshawar”

The minister who is also chairman of National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) for Corona, further pointed out that the Pakistan Muslim League (N) government in Azad Kashmir had already announced a complete lockdown in the area for two weeks. Similarly the Sindh government has also imposed smart lockdown in four districts of Karachi.

But he said the both parties (PML-N and PPP) were insisting on holding Jalsa in Peshawar which was clear manifestation of their sheer hypocrisy.