LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Tuesday said that Pakistan will receive seven million doses of the Chinese coronavirus vaccine in April.
Speaking to a news channel, the minister recalled the federal government has purchased about three million and four million doses of the Sinopharm and Cansino vaccines, respectively.
“They [China] have also committed to giving us a certain amount of doses each month. So we will have an adequate number of vaccines available,” she said.
Her statement comes as the government portal on Tuesday registered 4,084 fresh infections of the coronavirus. In the last 24 hours, the authorities tested 46,269 samples — receiving back a scaled-down positivity rate of 8.83 per cent.
With new cases, the country’s confirmed cases climbed to 663,200.
Meanwhile, the daily death toll reached a three-month high of 100 to stand at 14,356.
The recoveries increased by 2,081 to 600,278, or 90.5 percent of total infections. Currently, there are 48,566 active cases in the country, with 3,170 of them in critical condition.
ISLAMABAD’S CONTAGION RATE SURGES PAST 12PC:
Minister of State for National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan said that the transmission rate in Islamabad has doubled in the past few days, reaching 12.31 percent.
Speaking to reporters, he said that the overall case positivity rate in the country was 8.83 per cent while 10.43 per cent in Punjab, 8.55 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 2.98 per cent in Sindh, 2.15 per cent in Balochistan, 8.98 per cent in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and 2.33 per cent in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), APP reported.
He said that positive cases were climbing up for the past two weeks and urged the people to strictly follow standard operating procedures (SoPs) to prevent the spread.
“We regularly monitor positivity ratio at national, provincial, and city levels and when it increases, it puts an additional burden on the healthcare sector. Pressure is mounting in Islamabad, Peshawar, Karachi, and major urban centers of Punjab.”
He said that keeping in view the risk, targetted restrictions were imposed focusing on high-risk sectors with mass gathering, however, poor compliance with guidelines was observed. He further requested provincial administrations to take serious note of the situation.
The minister said that there are certain variants of the disease originating from the African states where travel restrictions are being imposed to contain its spread.
He said that a walk-in vaccination facility for senior citizens, aged 70 and above, was introduced and they can visit the nearest vaccination centre after registering themselves on 1166 for jabs.
He also said that this is not the time for complacency but for strict compliance with guidelines. “Covid-19 is a deadly virus but we can control it just as we did by following the guidelines during the first wave.”
Dr Faisal said that the government is seeking full cooperation of the people in adhering to the guidelines. “We can save precious lives including those of our near and dear ones by taking preventive measures.”
He asked the people to wear a face mask, maintain social distance, wash hands frequently and avoid going to crowded places.
Dr Faisal said that better services are being ensured at vaccination centers to facilitate senior citizens. He further said that keeping in view the positive response received from senior people for vaccination, the staffers and number of centers are also being increased.
TOUGH RESTRICTIONS:
The latest outbreak of cases is centred around Punjab. The province on Monday recorded 2,467 coronavirus cases and 73 deaths. This is the sixth consecutive day the province has reported more than 2,000 cases.
The provincial total is 217,694 — with a contagion rate of 10.42 per cent — and the death toll is 6,319.
A day earlier, the Punjab government announced to enforce lockdowns in districts with a positivity ratio of more than 12 per cent from April 1.
“The lockdown will continue till April 11,” said Chief Minister Usman Buzdar while speaking to reporters.
Buzdar said that the government will not impose any restrictions on economic activities or industries. “The construction, transport, goods and industrial sectors will continue to operate as per regular according to standard operating procedures (SOPs),” he said.
There will be a complete ban on wedding events and other gatherings in the province. The mass transit transport systems, including the Orange Line Metro Train and the Speedo bus service, will also be closed.
There will be also a complete ban on indoor and outdoor dining at all restaurants and hotels. However, takeaway and home delivery will be allowed.
Restrictions, Buzdar said, will continue to be in place on sporting, cultural and social activities. Parks will remain closed and commercial timings for markets will be till 6:00 pm, while shops will remain closed on the weekends.
He added that the arrangements will be reviewed by the cabinet committee on Covid-19 after a week.
In a statement issued after the daily morning briefing on Monday, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) identified 19 districts reporting a high positivity ratio: Swat 23 per cent, Peshawar 22 per cent, Nowshehra 19 per cent, Lahore 17 per cent, Rawalpindi 15 per cent, Faisalabad 15 per cent, Sargodha 12 per cent, Sialkot 12 per cent, Malakand 12 per cent, Swabi 12 per cent, Multan 12 per cent, Mandi Bahauddin 11 per cent, Gujranwala 10 per cent, Okara 9 per cent, Rahim Yar Khan 9 per cent, Toba Tek Singh 9 per cent, Bahawalpur 8 per cent, Dir Lower 8 per cent and Gujrat 7 per cent.
