NCOC extends Covid-19 restrictions till April 13

In view of the third wave of coronavirus in Pakistan, fuelled by UK variant, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday decided to extend restrictions in place to stem the spread of the deadly contagion till April 13.

The development comes at a time when the country reported 100 deaths from Covid-19 – the second consecutive day for such grim statistics – and recorded 5,139 cases during the previous 24-hour period.

Most of the fatalities occurred in Punjab followed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). Out of the 100 deaths, 93 succumbed to the disease while under treatment in a hospital, out of which 31 were on ventilator support.

The highest number of Covid-19 cases has so far been recorded in Sindh at 268,284, followed by Punjab with 245,923 cases, K-P with 97,318, 64,902 cases in ICT, Balochistan with 20,178 cases, AJK with 14,260 cases, and Gilgit-Baltistan with 5,103 cases.

At least 15,329 people have fallen prey to the pandemic in the country.

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A meeting of NCOC was held under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar, who also heads the NCOC, during which inoculation campaign in Ramazan was discussed, Express News reported.

It was decided that another meeting will be called on April 12 during which ways would be discuss to implement the restriction in letter and spirit.

The meeting was informed that a large quantity of coronavirus vaccine would reach Pakistan by mid-April.

On March 12, NCOC chief Asad Umar confirmed that the third wave of Covid-19 had started in Pakistan, attributing the rising number of cases to the virus' UK strain.

"Yes, there is no doubt that the third wave has started and basically, the phenomena that's driving it is the spread of the UK strain," Umar said while talking to a private news channel.

The country has been undergoing smart lockdowns in all the applicable localities that report an increase in cases with authorities are urging citizens to practice all necessary SOP's including sanitizing one's hands and wearing mandatory facemasks.