As Pakistan reported over 4,400 cases in a single day, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Chairman Asad Umar has warned that the government will have to impose more restrictions if the coronavirus infections continue to spike across Pakistan at such an alarming rate.
The planning minister was addressing a press conference after the meeting of the NCOC that was held to take stock of the alarming rise in infections, especially in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. On Saturday, Pakistan reported over 4,400 cases of coronavirus, the highest since June 21, with Punjab reporting over 2,200 cases.
The meeting reviewed the rising trend of COVID-19, implementation status of high impact interventions, and state of critical medical facilities, including oxygen beds and ventilators.
Asad Umar, who is also the planning minister, said that the UK variant that is the source of the third wave is more contagious and dangerous than the original virus that emerged out of Wuhan, China, in December 2019. He said that the third wave of coronavirus is deadlier than the first wave of the infection that wreaked havoc in Pakistan in May-July 2020.
According to the minister, the coronavirus is spreading at an alarming rate in Pakistan and the South Asian region. He said that in order to contain the spread of the disease, the government will have no option but to lock everything down.
He said there was a drastic increase in the number of patients over the past 12 days and if the virus continued to spread on this rate, then things will be worse than they were in the first wave.
A special session of the NCOC was also held yesterday, in which provincial administrators were advised to implement strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) to curb the third wave of the coronavirus.
NCOC Data
Over the last 24 hours, 4,468 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Pakistan, according to data released by the NCOC. Meanwhile, 67 people lost their lives to the virus, of which 62 died while hospitalised. 22 died while on ventilators.
Punjab continues to register the greatest number of COVID-19 deaths, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
A total of 14,158 deaths have been registered across Pakistan so far.
The number of fatalities registered in the provinces stands at 6,190 in Punjab, 4,487 in Sindh, 2,274 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 557 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 205 in Balochistan, 103 in Gilgit Baltistan (GB), and 342 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
As of March 27, 2021, there are 42,384 active cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan.
Yesterday, 44,279 tests were conducted across Pakistan, with 11,134 conducted in Sindh, 16,473 in Punjab, 8,029 in KP, 6,601 in ICT, 656 in Balochistan, 311 in GB, and 1,075 in AJK.
631 hospitals within Pakistan are equipped with COVID-19 facilities, with 2,779 patients admitted across the country.
Of the ventilators reserved for COVID-19 patients, 394 are occupied across Pakistan. 72% of the reserved ventilators are occupied in Multan, 62% in Islamabad, 60% in Gujranwala, and 57% in Lahore. No patients are on ventilators in Balochistan,GB, and AJK.
Of the allotted oxygen beds, 89% are occupied in Gujrat, 85% in Gujranwala, 73% in Peshawar, and 61% in Swat.
To date, a total of 649,824 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Pakistan (AJK 12,245; Balochistan 19,453; GB 4,990; ICT 55,056; KP 83,630; Punjab 210,095; Sindh 264,355). 7,043,604 tests have so far been conducted across the country.
So far, 593,282 people have recovered across Pakistan.
