Winter may bring 2nd Covid wave, cautions PM

Prime Minister Imran Khan has cautioned the nation against a possible second wave of contagious coronavirus pandemic in the coming winter, urging the people once again to wear protective face masks in public places.

"Compared to some other states, Allah has been kind to us in Pakistan and spared us the worst effects of Covid-19," the premier wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter on Sunday.

"[However] there is a fear [that the] onset of winter could result in a 2nd wave [of the contagious disease]. I urge everyone to wear face masks in public to avoid a spike," he added.

He also directed all offices and institutions to use face masks to help prevent the spread of the disease.

Pakistan reported 632 new cases on Sunday, taking the country's coronavirus tally to 314,616 cases. Six more deaths were also reported while around 375 patients also recovered from the virus.

Around 298,968 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio. Pakistan has recorded a total of 6,513 deaths since the start of the pandemic in the country in February.

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on October 3 asked all provinces and federating units to launch a crackdown against restaurants and wedding halls violating the standard operating procedures (SOPs) framed to curb the spread of the disease.

The NCOC, the body which leads the country’s coronavirus response, issued the instruction in the wake of a fresh surge in infections, particularly in Karachi, the country’s commercial hub.

The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) also issued a fresh warning over the escalating Covid-19 cases in the country, saying the country might be headed for a second wave of the disease.

In a statement, the doctors’ representative body warned that countries currently experiencing a second wave were facing a more severe form of the disease. It expressed concern over the possibility of a similar situation in Pakistan.

The PMA noted that people had stopped following Covid-19 SOPs in Sindh and cautioned that the situation could grow worse if immediate steps were not taken to address the problem. “It is important that special care is taken in primary and pre-primary schools," a PMA statement read.

According to the NCOC, 95 ventilators in various hospitals of Pakistan are currently occupied by coronavirus patients. There are a total of 1,912 ventilators allocated for Covid-19 patients in Pakistan. No coronavirus patients in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Balochistan are on ventilator.

“Some 33,725 tests were conducted across the country on Saturday, including 9,918 in Sindh, 12,178 in Punjab, 4,252 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), 4,746 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 1,960 in Balochistan, 193 in Gilgit Baltistan (GB), and 478 in the AJK,” it added.

Since start of the pandemic, 2,816 were reported in the AJK, 15,371 in Balochistan, 3,828 in the GB, 16,766 in the ICT, 37,973 in the K-P, 99,812 in Punjab and 138,050 in Sindh.

So far 2,520 people have died of the disease in Sindh; 2,240 in Punjab; 1,260 in the K-P; 183 in the ICT; 146 in Balochistan; 88 in the GB and 76 in the AJK.

A total of 3,644,762 Covid tests have been conducted so far. Some 735 hospitals are equipped with facilities to deal with such patients. Some 753 patients are admitted in hospitals across the country.