The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Chief and Planning Minister Asad Umar on Sunday said that “clear evidence of the beginning of another Covid wave in the country was now apparent.”
The minister took to his official Twitter handle and stated that genome sequencing has shown a rising proportion of Omicron, “particularly in Karachi.”
He urged people to wear masks, adding that it was their “best protection”.
“Clear evidence now of a beginning of another covid wave which has been expected for last few weeks. Genome sequencing showing rising proportion of omicron cases particularly in karachi. Remember : wearing a mask is your best protection,” his tweet read.
Umar’s tweet comes a few days after the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed 75 cases of the Omicron strain of Covid-19 across the country, two weeks after the first case was reported in Karachi.
“The first case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 was reported on December 13 in Karachi. As of December 27, a total 75 Omicron cases have been confirmed – 33 in Karachi, 17 in Islamabad and 13 in Lahore,” read an official statement.
SMART LOCKDOWN: The local government imposed a 15-day micro-smart lockdown in Karachi’s District East on Saturday after the emergence of at least 12 cases of Omicron variant in the area.
According to a notification issued by the deputy commissioner’s office, the lockdown was imposed in Gulshan-e-Iqbal’s Block 7 area and other hotspots on the report of the district health officers.
“In exercise of powers conferred under Section 3 of the Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act 2014 (as amended in 2020), I, Taha Saleem, Deputy Commissioner, District Karachi East, hereby impose smart lockdown and micro-smart lockdown, which shall be enforced in the streets and houses of specified area respectively as given below, for a definite period of two weeks only,” the notification read.
