Second Covid-19 wave — Pakistan records highest one-day death toll in four months

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has reported 34 deaths, 1,808 new cases in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 349,922.

The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 7,055.

So far, a total of 320,849 people have recovered from the virus while the active number of cases stands at 22,088.

Pakistan has conducted 4,810,182 tests with 36,686 tests in the last 24 hours.

The number of coronavirus patients in Sindh stands at 152,072 while in Punjab, the tally stands at 108,221. At least 41,258 cases have been reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 22,765 in Islamabad, 16,226 in Balochistan, 5,041 in Azad Kashmir, and 4,409 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Pakistan decides to close shrines, cinemas amid second Covid-19 wave

The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on Wednesday has called for banning large public gatherings and enhance restrictions in high risk areas due to COVID-19 resurge amid rising possible second wave of the pandemic.

The NCOC meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar reviewed the epidemic curve data and disease prevalence in country including education sector.

Measures recommended by NCOC

The recommended measures included that all public gatherings of more than 500 people should be banned including political, cultural, religious, entertainment and civil society gatherings.

It also added that early and extended winter vacations after input by Federal and Provincial Education ministers should be announced.

Moreover, for restaurants only outdoor dining till 10 pm and take away should be allowed.

However, it also suggested that cinemas and theatres would be closed with immediate effect including shrines whereas early closing of Markets with safe days was also proposed in the recommendations.

Infection Increased Three Folds

During the meeting, the forum was told that the disease had increased three folds since the NCOC recommended to ban large public gatherings and outdoor activities on October 12 and November 3 to the National Coordination Committee (NCC) for its final decision.

Early Winter Vacations Suggested

The forum was briefed that there was increasing positivity ratio in educational institutions and there was a need to check this trend.

The forum decided that on 16 November the Federal Minister for Education would chair a special meeting at NCOC with provincial education ministers on board to assess and review the positivity prevailing in educational institutions.

After consultative discussions, the recommendations would be shared with the provinces for consequent decision and enforcement.

The forum taking into account rising positivity ratio suggested for early and extended winter vacations to reduce the impact of disease spread and ensure the safety and health of students.

Guidelines for Marriage Ceremonies

The NCOC had also issued guidelines on marriage ceremonies to all stakeholders. As per the guidelines, only outdoor marriages with a permissible number of 500 people were allowed from November 20th.