Staff eporter
Islamabad
Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar, noted on Sunday that the Coronavirus positivity rate rose to over 2% during the past week. Previously it remained below 2% during the past six weeks.
Taking to Twitter, the minister said mini smart lockdowns have been re-imposed in major cities of the country including Karachi, Islamabad, and in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir region, keeping in view the surge in coronavirus cases.
“Administration across the country has been directed to ensure safety measures, however, success is still impossible without the support and cooperation from people,” the minister wrote on Twitter.
Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood, echoing Umar’s call for adhering to precautions, said that Pakistanis have been “lucky so far” but they must follow pre-emptive measures to prevent a second wave of the virus in the country.
“Large public gatherings must not take place. These alone can unleash second wave,” the minister cautioned.
Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases in Punjab has been on the rise and on October 10, data from the National Command and Operation Centre revealed that 203 people contracted the coronavirus, the highest number of people who tested positive for the infection in a single day, in almost two months.
The number of coronavirus cases started increasing after schools, colleges and educational institutions were reopened in a phased manner from September 15 in the province and around the country.
On the other hand, Pakistan has reported 12 deaths in last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 318,932. The tally of fatalities has jumped to 6,570.
According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center 666 persons have been tested positive for Covid-19 in 24 hours
