The number of COVID-19 infections started going up again gradually and doubled in just one week. The positivity rate, which stood at less than 2 percent in June, reached almost 4 percent after a gap of 20 days on Saturday, while in Karachi it has exceeded 11 percent.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan had also warned of a looming fourth wave of COVID-19 in the country, terming the Delta variant, which is believed to have originated in India, the biggest concern. The NCOC, coronavirus monitoring body, had also confirmed presence of different variants of coronavirus, including the Delta (Indian), Beta (South African) and Alpha (UK) variants, in Pakistan.
The Prime Minister had also urged the citizens to follow the necessary precautionary measures to contain the fourth wave of the deadly virus, while also warned of another lockdown, which he terms a threat for country’s economy.
Currently, the biggest threat for Pakistan is the Indian variant of COVID, called the Delta strain or B.1.617.2, which can wreak havoc if the authorities and people continue to be careless. Reports indicate that in Britain, 90pc of the new cases are reportedly of the Indian variant.
To prevent the fourth wave of coronavirus in the country, it has been decided to stop unnecessary movement on Eid-ul-Adha, while the government has also banned domestic air travel without a vaccine certificate from August 1.
While not much can be said with certainty about when the pandemic will be over, it is indisputable that our actions now will prevent matters from becoming far worse. Despite the calls to show caution, cattle markets are thronged with foolhardy visitors without paying any heed to SOPs.
After the decline in coronavirus infections in Pakistan, normalcy was restored a few weeks ago, but due to the increasing positivity rate, the government has expressed fears of another lockdown. People should vaccinate themselves against the deadly virus as soon as possible and also follow the SOPs and avoid unnecessary movement.
