Asad Umar hints at imposing another lockdown in parts of country

ISLAMABAD, Mar 13 (DNA): Federal Minister for Planning and Development
and National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) head Asad Umar said on
Saturday that government may have to opt for another lockdown in parts
of the country if there is a continued increase in coronavirus cases.

Asad Umar on Saturday chaired a meeting of NCOC to discuss the latest
Covid situation in the country and implementation of coronavirus SOPs.

During the meeting, the forum expressed concern over rising coronavirus
cases. “The third wave of coronavirus has started in Pakistan and
lockdown can be imposed in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to curb
the spread of coronavirus,” warned the minister. “The COVID-19 tests
positivity ratio in the country has reached 6pc, which is alarming,” he
added.

The NCOC head directed provinces to strictly enforce standard operating
procedures (SOPs) to prevent coronavirus the further spread of
coronavirus. He said that the UK coronavirus strain is spreading faster
in Pakistan. He appealed to the masses to continue following the
standard operating procedures (SOPs) designed to counter the spread of
the coronavirus.

Pakistan has recorded 46 more coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24
hours, taking the overall death toll to 13,476.

According to the latest statistics of the National Command and Operation
Centre (NCOC), the COVID-19 has claimed 46 more lives and 2,338 fresh
infections were reported during the said period. The total count of
active cases is 19,764 and the positivity rate increases up to 5.5 per
cent.

In the past 24 hours, as many as 1,231 patients have recovered from the
virus in a day and 1,720 patients are still in critical condition.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), with the
fresh inclusion of the infections in the country the national tally of
cases now currently stands at 602,536.

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