The Punjab government has decided to impose tougher restrictions in Lahore after a massive spike in coronavirus cases.
Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said people were not implementing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) devised by the government.
After enduring two waves, Pakistan is getting severely affected by the third wave of coronavirus which has pushed the government to resort to new restrictions to curb its spread while the country has not received its promised doses from donors.
National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) held a meeting on Sunday to review the comforts it had granted after the virus had waned to an extent.
The meeting was convened by NCOC Chairman Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar and attended by chief secretaries of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and Balochistan via video link.
NCOC decided to ban all kinds of indoor and outdoor public gatherings including social, cultural, political, sports etc with immediate effect across the country.
Further, the permission to hold indoor and outdoor weddings will be revoked from April 5.
Chief secretaries have been advised to ensure strict compliance of the sop’s. Would request everyone to cooperate with the administration as they are enforcing these sop’s for safeguarding us
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) March 28, 2021
The control center will also decide on inter-provincial transport after input from the provinces.
Asad Umar said the British mutant of coronavirus has clobbered the country once again. He warned that the country may face a situation worst than the first wave of the pandemic virus.
Vaccine vows
Prime Minister Imran Khan urged the nation to strictly follow all precautionary guidelines.
Imran Khan said a shortage of coronavirus vaccines had been created worldwide amid the third wave.
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He disclosed that the promised vaccines to Pakistan had not been delivered yet as the producers have diverted them to their own nations.
Therefore, Imran Khan requested the people to wear masks and tell others to do so to avoid contracting contagion.
Latest stats
On March 28, some 4,525 new cases were reported across Pakistan while the tally of active cases has reached 46,663. The infection rate has once again climbed to around 10%.
Pakistan reported 41 deaths in the same span.
Punjab is the new hotspot as there are 23,104 active cases in the province followed by 8,825 cases in federal capital Islamabad and 8,408 in KP.