LAHORE: There is no let up in the spread of coronavirus, as Punjab has reported 727 fresh corona cases and 25 deaths during the last 24 hours taking the provincial tally of cases to 121,083 and fatalities to 3091. With recovery of 167 more patients, the number of recovered patients in Punjab has reached to 98,992. On the other hand, as many as 1,586 coronavirus recoveries were reported across the country during the last 24 hours taking the total number of recovered patients to 346,951 with recovery rate of 85.3 percent.
As per data made available, Lahore has so far reported 59,510 cases and 1224 deaths while Rawalpindi has reported 10959 cases and 521 deaths. On the other hand, ban imposed by the Punjab government on indoor dining at all restaurants in the province is being flouted by some restaurants in the provincial metropolis.
As per order issued by the Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, there shall be a complete ban on indoor dining in restaurants, cafes, hotels, etc. Only outdoor dining with adequate spacing between tables and takeaway shall be allowed.
Moreover, over 15 scholars of different schools of thought have demanded from the opposition parties not to hold a rally in Lahore on December 13 in view of the coronavirus threat.
Ulema also fully supported the government's decision to observe "Dua Day" across Punjab on Friday (today).
Mufti Iqbal Chishti, Maulana Muhammad Yusuf, Sahibzada Abdullah Mustafa, Syed Mahmood Gardezi, Maulana Abdul Mulk and other religious scholars along with Governor Punjab Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar participated in the Governors and Ulema Video Conference on Thursday that was chaired by the President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi. During the press conference at Governor's House Lahore, Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar said that on behalf of the government he was grateful to all the religious scholars for participating in today's conference and for ensuring the implementation of coronavirus SOPs.
The current wave of coronavirus is more dangerous than first, due to which not only the number of coronavirus patients but also the number of deaths is constantly increasing, Sarwar said.
Responding to media queries, he said that in view of threat of coronavirus, there is complete agreement with the Ulema on SOPs implementation. In today's conference, everyone including the Ulema agreed that in the current situation any major gathering including political rallies would be dangerous for the spread of coronavirus. Therefore, we want to ask the opposition parties to reconsider the policy of holding public rallies, he said.
Replying to a question, Sarwar said: "No one should politicize the Corona issue. We have decided not to obstruct the opposition rallies, but it is the responsibility of the opposition to prefer public health over political interests, otherwise the opposition will be responsible for Coronavirus spike."
Special Assistant to CM on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan also advised the opposition to avoid spreading coronavirus as the situation is going grave every passing day and the number of patients is increasing.
Holding public meetings in this situation is enmity with the people but opposition is only interested in saving its looted money. The PDM lacks sanity and it should stop playing with the lives of the people, she added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020