Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Pakistan has reported 9 deaths in last 24 hours from novel the Coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 344,839. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 6,977 on Monday as Covid-19 Positivity ratio increased to 4.5%.
According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center 1,650 persons have been tested positive for Covid-19 in 24 hours.
Till now 150,169 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 106,922 in Punjab, 40,657 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 21,861 in Islamabad, 16,106 in Balochistan, 4,758 in Azad Kashmir and 4,366 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Meanwhile, Punjab government on Monday decided to close markets violating Standard Operating Procedures in view of the growing number of Coronavirus cases in the province.
These important decisions were taken at a meeting of the Punjab Cabinet Committee to Combat Coronavirus. In the meeting, the provincial government approved important measures to curb Coronavirus.
Provincial Minister for Commerce Mian Aslam Iqbal said that smart lockdown would be extended from micro to neighbourhood and society level.
The minister while issuing stern instructions to the citizens and warned that the market, bazaar, office and wedding halls where masks will not be made mandatory will be closed.
Earlier Monday, the National Command and Operation Center was apprised that Covid-19 positivity ratio was rapidly increasing which was 4.5 percent prevailing in the country amid 15 major cities having higher positivity ratio.
The Chief secretaries of provinces updated the forum on administrative measures implemented as per the fresh guidelines issued by the NCOC in higher positivity ratio cities in their respective provinces.
As the second wave of the novel Coronavirus has gripped Pakistan, the nerve centre of the nation’s fight against the global pandemic has warned that Covid-19 test positivity ratio is “rapidly increasing” in major urban centres of the country.
The forum was informed that 4,136 “micro small lockdowns” are in place across Pakistan. The “testing, tracing and quarantining” strategy is being used for disease control and prevention, the press release said. The NCOC was also told that recent curbs will remain in force till Jan 31, 2021.
Giving the breakdown, the forum noted that 15 major cities have high positivity ratio with Hyderabad being at the top with 16.59 % positivity ratio, followed by Gilgit with 15.38 %, Multan 15.97 %, Muzaffarabad 14.12 %, Mirpur 11.11%, Peshawar 9.69%, Quetta 8.03%, Islamabad 7.48 %, Karachi 7.12%, Lahore 5.37% and Rawalpindi 4.63%.
The NCOC discussed at length the uptick in the Covid positivity ratio and the recent enforcement measures put in place following the meeting of the National Coordination Committee. The NCOC was apprised that 2,811 “oxygenated beds” were included to ramp up capacity of state-run hospitals and over 13,000 oxygen cylinders were issued to the federating units.