847 new infections in one day
NCOC warns people of another lockdown if guidelines are flouted
The number of active cases of coronavirus crossed the 10,000 mark yesterday registering a positivity rate hovering over 5.2 per cent which was a little over 2 per cent a few weeks back. Since October 18, Pakistan is showing a steady increase of 10- 15 deaths on daily basis due to coronavirus and the number of new infections has also gone up steadily in the last six days.
The country reported 12 deaths and8 47 new cases in last 24 hours forcing the National Command & Operation Centre ( NCOC) to renew its warning that it would be left with no choice but to order closure of services again if people continued to flout health guidelines.
High- risk areas
The NCOC in a statement declared the transport sector, markets, marriage halls, restaurants and public gatherings as high- risk areas and advised the provinces to focus on themand take steps to prevent the spread.
According to a statement by the Ministry of National Health Services ( NHS), the NCOC has been closely monitoring the situation and will take action if there is no improvement in the compliance of standard operating procedures ( SOPs).
Therewas a clear resurgence of the virus and the number of deaths was also increasing, the statement said, adding that the chief secretaries had been asked to strictly enforce the SOPs.
Meanwhile, Liaquat Ali Shahwani, spokesperson for the Balochistan government appealed to the leadership of the opposition parties’ antigovernment alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement ( PDM) to postpone their show of power scheduled for today.