New Covid wave confirmed in country

Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar on Sunday said there was “clear evidence” of the beginning of another Covid-19 wave in Pakistan – this time the virus’ Omicron variant – as its cases continue to surface across the country.

Taking to Twitter, he added that new wave – the fifth one -- was expected for the last few weeks.

"Genome sequencing showing rising proportion of Omicron cases, particularly in Karachi," he wrote.

Umar, who also heads the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Coid-19, urged citizens to wear masks, adding that it was their “best protection”.

Read: Omicron feared to loom within mosques

The first case of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 was reported on December 13 in Karachi.

As per official data, Islamabad has reported 64 confirmed cases of Omicron so far, while 49 cases of the strain have been detected in Lahore.

Smart lockdown

On Saturday, the local government had imposed a 15-day micro-smart lockdown in Karachi's District East after the emergence of at least 12 cases of Omicron in the area, taking the city’s tally of the variant to 44.

According to a notification issued by the deputy commissioner’s office, the lockdown was imposed in Gulshan-e-Iqbal's Block 7 area and other hotspots on the reports of the district health officers.

After the imposition of the smart lockdown, there will be a ban on all sorts of public gatherings in the area, the notification had said, adding that the government would strictly enforce the implementation of the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

"In order to reduce the transmission and spread of Covid-19, besides mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing interventions, it is also fundamental to ensure isolation, contact tracing and testing being the three pillars of TTT (TTQ) strategy of the government for the containment of Covid-19," the notification had added.

According to the notification, the restrictions would remain in place till January 14 to avert a health crisis.

Covid 'tsunami'

A Covid "tsunami" threatens to overwhelm healthcare systems, the WHO had warned on Wednesday, as record surges fuelled by the Omicron variant dampened New Year celebrations around the world once again.

Governments are walking a tightrope between anti-virus restrictions and the need to keep societies and economies open, as the highly transmissible variant drove cases to levels never seen before in the US, Britain, France and Denmark.

The blistering surge was illustrated by AFP's tally of 6.55 million new infections reported globally in the week ending Tuesday, the highest the figure has been since the WHO declared a Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.