THERE has been an alarming increase in Covid cases over last few days. On Sunday, the country reported 7586 fresh cases with active cases surging to over seventy thousand, making it the highest in over four months.
In view of serious situation, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has revised protocols for mosques and announced that only fully vaccinated people will be allowed to pray inside places of worship.
Wearing masks, maintaining distance of six feet and removal of carpets in mosques have also been declared mandatory.
It is important that protocols issued either for mosques or other sectors such as wedding halls and restaurants are fully adhered to in order to reverse the current trend in cases.
After the breakout of the pandemic, religious scholars and Imams came forward and extended full support to authorities concerned in observing the SOPs.
The same kind of cooperation is required now to check these rising cases.
It is unfortunate that people are no longer taking the threat seriously and have stopped wearing masks or observing distance at public places.
The authorities concerned also need to stay vigilant and take action against those not observing the SOPs.
Complacency at this point will only increase the risk of situation spinning out of control.
In such a scenario, the government will be left with no option but to enforce more strict restrictions, which will only affect livelihoods of people and education of our children.
Hence, it is our collective responsibility to demonstrate maturity to take the country back to normalisation.
The unvaccinated people should get the vaccine jabs immediately to stay safe.
The government must continue with awareness campaign both on print and electronic media in order to apprise the people about serious threat posed by the pandemic.
