Third COVID-19 wave: PM Imran urges nation to strictly follow SOPs

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the nation to fully follow the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) amid an increasingly worrying COVID-19 situation in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Imran Khan urged the people to adhere to anti-COVID SOPs saying the third wave of the pandemic was far more dangerous than the first two, said the premier in a video message on Sunday.

PM Imran further said, “Hospitals are filling. People are being put on ventilators or oxygen. We are the nation that was exemplified during the first wave (for our discipline). “God forbids, our hospitals will fill to their capacity if it continues to spread with the current rate,” he added.

The prime minister, who is in quarantine for testing positive for COVID-19 a week ago, told the nation that he remained safe during the first two waves as he had duly observed the precautions.

During the first two waves, he neither attended any wedding ceremonies nor visited any restaurant and also kept wearing the mask. However, during the Senate polls, he could not adhere to the SOPs which led to his infection, he added.

The PM said, “We are not in a position to impose another country-wide lockdown, but we can take precautions by wearing masks and following government-set SOPs.” 

The third wave of the coronavirus continues to ring alarm bells for Pakistan as 4,767 new cases of the virus were reported across the country on Sunday in a single day.

Fifty-seven more people died from the virus while 4,767 more contracted the disease on Sunday, according to figures obtained from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).