President urges people to follow SOPs to keep Covid-19 resurgence at bay

Says we have overcome the pandemic to a great extent but cannot afford to be lenient with precautionary measures

ISLAMABAD:

President Dr Arif Alvi urged the nation on Sunday to strictly follow precautionary measures in order to mitigate the risk of an increased number of Covid-19 cases in the country.

President Alvi, in a video message said, "we have overcome the pandemic to a significant extent, but will have to follow the SOPs to completely overcome it".

 

The president highlighted the need for wearing masks in mosques and bazaars, washing hands and following social distancing rules so the country can be free from the pandemic.

He warned that countries that had overcome the first wave are again reporting a high number of cases daily, which means there was a high chance the virus can rise in Pakistan too.

Appreciating the government's strategy to control the virus, Dr Alvi said that the smart lockdown policy yielded positive results and saved many people from unemployment.

However, he added, that precautionary measures will have to be taken in order for the situation to remain under control.

Earlier, Federal Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar had warned of “unmistakable signs” of a resurgence in coronavirus infection, pointing out that Covid-19 positivity rate stood at 2.37% on Thursday - the highest recorded in 50 days.

Umar further noted that there had also been a spike in coronavirus 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,” he elaborated.

The minister explained that Covid-19 positivity was "extremely high" in Muzaffarabad, "remained high" in Karachi and was "rising" in Lahore and Islamabad.

"Time for all of us to take Covid SOPs seriously again,” he cautioned. “Otherwise, unfortunately we may have to take restrictive actions which have negative effects on people's livelihoods."