Faisal links restrictions rollback to vaccinations

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr Faisal Sultan, on Saturday said Covid-19 restrictions could not be eased until all citizens were vaccinated as traders clamour for a return to normal.

Dr Sultan’s remarks were reported by Geo News. In a statement, Dr Sultan noted that the virus has affected the health system of all countries and no single nation could fight the pandemic alone. “We have to get united against the virus,” he said, adding that vaccinations were compulsory to stay clear of the virus.

His statement came a day after a traders’ body in Karachi announced plans to keep their shops open until 8pm — two hours longer than what is mandated — from Saturday. Karachi has been seeing rising cases and on Friday, its positivity ratio was 11 per cent.

Across the country, the positivity ratio has declined. As of Saturday, Pakistan reported 1,923 new Covid-19 infections with a nationwide positivity rate of 3.82 per cent, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said.

According to the NCOC, the country’s number of overall cases rose to 930,511, which include 860,385 recoveries since February of last year when it detected the first case. There are a total of 48,937 active cases who are under treatment across the country, including 3,452 those who are in critical condition.

According to the NCOC, the pandemic killed 84 people in the 24 hours leading to Saturday, increasing the overall death toll to 21,189.

Punjab province is leading in both the number of infections and deaths, where 341,789 people were infected and 10,241 lost their lives, followed by Sindh province with 322,350 infected people and 5,105 deaths.