LAHORE: The Punjab government and health experts have decided to contact the Centre for tightening lockdown steps in Lahore to limit the spread of the COVID-19.
According to a handout issued by the Punjab CM’s Office, the decision was taken during a meeting presided over by Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Friday.
The statement said it was decided that recommendations will be sent to the federal government in order to impose stricter restrictions, adding that a separate strategy will be implemented in Lahore after approval from the federal government.
On this occasion, it was stated that the situation in Punjab was critical due to the public flouting standard operating procedures (SOPs) while the number of cases surged.
The statement added more than half of the coronavirus cases in Punjab are from Lahore and SOPs violations are being seen in markets and commercial areas.
The meeting was also told that the National Disaster Management Authority will establish a hospital in Punjab with 300 high dependency unit (HDU) beds.
The provincial government will also provide 300 HDU beds to different hospitals across the province, the statement read.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Pakistan has surged to 125,933, while the death toll stands at 2,459.
According to the National Command and Control Center (NCOC), more than 6,397 cases of coronavirus were reported while 107 people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours.
As many as 40,247 patients have recovered from the disease, while the country is still witnessing a consistent rise in the COVID-19 cases.
There have been 47,382 cases reported in Punjab, 46,828 in Sindh, 15,787 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 7,673 in Balochistan, 6,236 in Islamabad, 534 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 1,030 in Gilgit Baltistan.
Out of a total of 2,459 deaths, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported 632 deaths, Sindh 776, Balochistan 75, Gilgit-Baltistan 15, Punjab 890, Azad Kashmir 09 and Islamabad Capital Territory has reported 62 deaths.
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