Shibli Faraz urges people to avoid public gatherings

Information Minister Shibli Faraz said on Saturday the government was taking effective steps to deal with the intensifying second wave of Covid-19 and appealed to the people to avoid public gatherings or activities that put their health and lives in danger.

In a tweet today, he said public health and protection of people's lives is the foremost priority of government. “The second wave of corona[virus] has intensified. We are taking effective measures to deal with it,” the minister added.

Shibli Faraz appealed to the people to strictly adhere to the precautionary steps and the standard operating procedures against the pandemic and avoid participating in public gatherings or activities that could put their health and lives in danger.

The minister’s tweet came as the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), which leads the government’s effort against the contagion spread, reported the death of 71 patients and 2,729 new cases of coronavirus during the last 24 hours.

According to the NCOC, the nationwide death toll since the pandemic outbreak in the country in February this year rose to 8,724, while the total caseload soared to 435,056. Among them 381,208 patients have recovered so far.

The fatalities included a Dr Prof Zaibun Nisa, the head of Pathology Department of the Khyber Medical College, who was admitted for a week in the North West Hospital (NWH) Peshawar after tested positive for the deadly contagion.

The NCOC said in its daily update that there were 45,124 active Covid-19 cases in the country, adding that 2,470 coronavirus patients were in critical condition, including 355 on ventilators. The national Covid positivity ratio was recorded as 6.59% on Saturday, it said.