LAHORE – The government of Punjab on Wednesday decided to impose a complete lockdown across the province from May 8 to May 16 amid rising number of coronavirus.
The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by provincial Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid.
During this period, all activities will be banned in the province while public transport will remain suspended. All tourist places will also remain closed.
The government will establish checkpoints at exit and entry points of the cities where police and Rangers officials will perform duties to ensure the implementation of SOPs.
The health minister said that that the next 20 days are crucial in the province to control the spread of the deadly virus.
Urging people to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr in simple way, she said that the country is battling with third wave of the pandemic.
Pakistan reported 4,113 new Covid-19 infections on Wednesday in last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 841,636.
According to official statistics from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan’s positivity rate is currently at 9.17 percent, with 84,480 active incidents.
The country’s death rate still stands at 18,590, including 119 new fatalities. Punjab had the most deaths in the world, followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In addition, 738,727 recoveries were recorded throughout the nation.
With no indication of the Covid-19 pandemic abating anytime soon, Punjab remains the pandemic’s worst-affected province in terms of both events and fatalities, led by Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan.
There have been 310616 reported coronavirus cases in Punjab, 287643 in Sindh, 121099 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 22776, in Balochistan, 76696 in Islamabad, 17,397 in Azad Kashmir, and 5341 in Gilgit-Baltistan so far.
In addition, the virus has claimed the lives of 8741 people in Punjab, 4687 in Sindh, 3466 in KP, 239 in Balochistan, 698 in Islamabad, 491 in Azad Kashmir, and 107 in the Gilgit Baltistan.
Read more: https://pakobserver.net/covid-19-punjab-faces-shortage-of-testing-kits/
