PM stresses timely decision to control corona second wave

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday stressed that donning of masks and adherence to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) should be ensured at all costs to avoid further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was chairing a meeting of the National Coordination Committee on COVID-19. During the meeting, the prime minister said from the facts and figures ascertained from different countries, it was surfaced that during the winter season, coronavirus infection could spread and stressed on the provincial governments to take steps in that regard and devise a strategy.

About the purpose of meeting, Imran Khan observed that they wanted to take timely decisions to control the second wave of coronavirus and save the nation from its further harms. The meeting was apprised of the coronavirus situation, testing, ratio of its spread in different parts of the country and increasing number of cases at the global level, PM Office Media Wing in a press release said. The meeting was told that at the international level, the number of corona-affected patients had surged. Compared with those numbers, the coronavirus spread and its damages remained distinctly low in Pakistan due to the blessings of Allah Almighty, and the government’s efforts and effective strategy, it was added.

The meeting was further apprised that as per the last six weeks data, the coronavirus infection was spreading in the country. Smart lockdown was being enforced in different areas of Karachi, Islamabad, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

It was suggested that measures should be taken to limit all unnecessary activities, which were not related to certain basic requirements like economy and education in order to control the second wave of coronavirus. A suggestion regarding restriction on public gatherings was also presented in the meeting.

Meanwhile, the total active COVID-19 cases in Pakistan were recorded 8,552 as 385 more people tested positive for the deadly virus during the last 24 hours. Ten corona patients, 6 of whom were under treatment, died in hospital and four expired out of hospital, according to the latest update issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

Some 26,951 tests were conducted across the country on Sunday, including 8,497 in Sindh, 11,082 in Punjab, 3,141 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 2,855 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 661 in Balochistan, 232 in Gilgit Baltistan (GB), and 483 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Around 304,185 people have recovered so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio of the affected patients.

Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 319,317 cases were detected so far, including AJK 3,118, Balochistan 15,525, GB 3,937, ICT 17,331, KP 38,348, Punjab 100,764 and Sindh 140,294. About 6,580 deaths were recorded in country since the eruption of the contagion, including 2,555 in Sindh, among two of them died in hospital on Sunday and four out of hospital, 2,258 in Punjab, one died in hospital on Sunday, 1,264 in KP, 189 in ICT, 146 in Balochistan, 90 in GB and 78 in AJK.

A total of 3,884,796 corona tests have been conducted so far while 735 hospitals are equipped with COVID facilities. Some 804 corona patients were admitted to hospitals across the country.