The Health Minister in Pakistan’s Punjab, Dr Yasmin Rashid, on Monday said that the country is imposing micro-smart lockdowns (strictly restricted movement) in various cities of Punjab to rein in the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.
She warned that the Covid-19 positivity rate has been consistently on the rise and witnessed 12 per cent increase. “Punjab government has issued new SOPs for public places, bazaars (markets) and other activities that involved gatherings,” she said.
Dr Yasmin Rashid further said that Lahore was becoming epicentre of the novel coronavirus, as 1,824 new cases have been reported.
She assured that there’s no need to panic because the government has enough facilities to manage the increasing infections.
Dr Rashid further informed that National Command Operation Center’s (NCOC) daily meetings have been called to cope with the spike in cases to place more beds in hospitals.
“If people make wearing masks their habit, we can reduce the spread by up to 50% to 70%. All provinces are under pressure presently, but Punjab is under the most constraint because of its massive population and testing was also increased,” she added.
She asked the people aged above 70 to vaccinate themselves without any delay and people under 60 to 70 should get their pin code and comes to their nearest vaccination centres.