Covid-19 pandemic: Pakistan says no to lockdown despite spurt in cases

Pakistan on Tuesday decided against imposing a nationwide lockdown amidst the rising number of coronavirus cases due to the omicron variant.

Planning Minister Asad Omar, the chief of the National Command and Operation Center on COVID-19, told the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Imran Khan that the number of current cases increased to 5,000 per day, the hospitalisation rate increased by 2.5 times and the ICU rate by 30 per cent.

The Cabinet asked for ensuring the implementation of standard operating procedures, including the use of masks and vaccination to arrest the spread of Omicron.

However, the Cabinet reiterated its commitment that the government would refrain from taking steps that would harm businesses and economic activities, read the statement.

Meanwhile, Pakistan recorded 5,034 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 13,33,521, while 10 patients died in this period which took the death toll to 29,029.

The positivity rate has reached 9.45 per cent from one per cent at the start of this month when the fifth wave hit the country, according to the data shared by the Ministry of National Health Services.