ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant on Health Dr Zafar Mirza has said the government will evaluate the prevailing situation immediately after Eid and can review its decision regarding relaxation in lockdown if the situation gets worse.
In a media briefing, the special assistant warned against taking COVID-19 pandemic lightly, as the number of cases and deaths could increase in the country in the coming days. He said social distancing and other precautionary measures are key to stop the spread of this killer disease.
He said the lockdown was relaxed in the country in view of Eid festival but it seems people are under the wrong impression that the prevalence of the disease is reducing. He said it is being observed that movement and interaction of people have increased during Eid holidays and SOPs are not being properly followed which could lead to a disastrous situation.
The special assistant further said Eid this year has been dedicated to frontline health workers who are selflessly fighting the disease. He said the testing rate is increasing in Pakistan and till yesterday 483,000 tests had been made.
Referring to the number of coronavirus cases worldwide, he said so far 5.5 million people in the world have been affected by coronavirus and more than 347,000 lost their lives.
Dr Zafar Mirza said the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country is 56,349 while recovery rate is 38 percent. He added that during the last 24 hours, 4,365 people have been admitted to hospitals for coronavirus, of which 112 are on ventilators. He said 1,157 people lost their lives in this disease so far, of which 24 died during the last 24 hours alone.
He once again appealed to people to strictly observe SOPs including avoiding close contact, maintaining social distancing, wearing face masks, frequent washing of hands with soap or sanitizer and other directions given by the government.
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