Pakistan’s daily COVID infections surpass 1,000 mark but Asad Umar rules out lockdown ‘for now’

Pakistan’s daily COVID infections surpass the 1,000 mark but Asad Umar has ruled out lockdown ‘for now in the country.

Pakistan on Thursday has reported 1,085 new coronavirus cases.

It was on October 14, 2021, when the country had last reported more than 1,000 cases with 1,086 cases.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre, the positivity rate has risen to 2.32 percent.

The region-wise breakdown of reported COVID cases is as follows:

• Sindh: 578 cases, 1 death
• Punjab: 360 cases
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 36 cases, 3 deaths
• Balochistan: 1 case, 1 death
• Islamabad: 104 cases
• Azad Jammu and Kashmir: 6 cases
• Gilgit-Baltistan: 0 cases

On the other hand, federal planning minister Asad Umar on Thursday said the option of lockdown was not being considered presently despite the Omicron-driven fifth wave of the coronavirus is causing a surge in daily reported infections cases.

“At this time there is no plan of [imposing] lockdowns. We are looking at [Covid] numbers very closely as we shared today what has happened in the rest of the world and what is starting to happen in Pakistan,” Umar Sais while talking to a new channel.

He expressed that the immediate focus was on scaling up the pace of vaccinations and enforcing the earlier placed restrictions on those who refuse to get vaccinated.