ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar once again urged the nation to observe the government-devised standard operating procedures (SOPs) to curtail the spread of coronavirus, after an uptick in fresh infections alarmed fears of a second wave.
In a tweet posted Thursday, the minister said: “National positivity of Covid cases was 2.37 per cent. This is the highest positivity rate in more than 50 days. The last time this level was seen was on August 23.”
National positivity of covid cases was 2.37% yesterday. This is the highest positivity in more than 50 days. Last time this level was seen on aug 23. First 4 days of this week covid deaths average is 11 per day..highest since week of Aug 10th. Unmistakable signs of rise of corona
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) October 15, 2020
Asad also highlighted an increase in virus deaths. “The average number of Covid deaths during the first four days of this week was 11 per day, the highest since the week of August 10. Unmistakable signs of the rise of corona.”
The minister said that virus positivity was “extremely high” in Muzaffarabad, “remained high” in Karachi, and is “rising” in Lahore and Islamabad.
“Time for all of us to take Covid SOPs seriously again. Otherwise, we may have to take restrictive actions which have negative effects on people’s livelihoods.”
National positivity of covid cases was 2.37% yesterday. This is the highest positivity in more than 50 days. Last time this level was seen on aug 23. First 4 days of this week covid deaths average is 11 per day..highest since week of Aug 10th. Unmistakable signs of rise of corona
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) October 15, 2020
In the last 24 hours, 13 people died of coronavirus-related complications in the country, taking the death toll from the disease to 6,614, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) numbers.
According to the NCOC, 755 fresh infections surfaced when 28,022 samples were tested during this period, lifting the national tally of cases to 321,218.
Around 305,395 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan with the addition of 315 recoveries recorded over the last 24 hours. There are 9,209 active cases in the country. Of the total, 518 are said to be in critical condition. 3,943,734 tests have been conducted so far.
So far, Sindh has reported 140,997 cases, Punjab 101,237, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 38,464, Balochistan 15,599, Islamabad 17,681, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) 3,258, and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) has reported 3,982 cases.
