Asad warns of serious consequences if Covid-19 SOPs continue to be violated

Federal Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar on Tuesday warned that the country would lose both lives and livelihoods if standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus continue to be violated by the people.

“We are collectively committing a blunder by recklessly ignoring all SOPs, [and] the results have started to show,” the minister tweeted.

Umar said at least 12 people succumbed to the virus during the previous week, which is a 140 per cent increase compared to a couple of weeks ago.

Endorsing Umar's opinion, Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari agreed that people were not following Covid-19 SOPs.

"Sadly people have stopped wearing masks in all public places, especially markets, offices, restaurants," she tweeted adding that it was an act of extreme selfishness not to wear masks as it endangered not only “yourself but also your family, associates, workers and everyone you come into contact with”.

Umar's warning comes a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan said he feared a second wave of Covid-19 in the country’s urban centres.

“Several cities, where pollution levels are high, experience smog during October and November when temperatures start to drop,” said the prime minister.

“I fear that in two months … cities like Faisalabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Gujranwala where there is more pollution, there might be a second spike in coronavirus cases,” PM said while disclosing that the government “is monitoring the situation”. He hoped that the Covid-19 cases “don’t quickly increase”.

A total of 323,833 cases have been recorded in Pakistan, with at least 307,943 people recovering from the virus. The country has lost 6,661 people to Covid-19.