Smart lockdowns, control on mobility to be used again: Dr Faisal

Karachi: Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan has said that the surge in coronavirus cases in Pakistan is due to the impact of the Delta variant.

In a presser on Monday, the SAPM said that the positivity ratio of cases has increased from 2% to 4%, urging the public to follow Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). He continued that besides the effect of new virus variants, especially the Delta variant, the citizens have also shown a lack of care.

Last week, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had confirmed the presence of different Covid-19 variants, including the Delta variant, in Pakistan.

Dr Sultan contended that in order to curb the spread of the virus, the government will again impose smart lockdowns and it may also put restrictions on mobility as well. He urged the citizens to get themselves inoculated against the deadly virus, adding that vaccination was the only way to protect the population from the spread of the virus.

AJK, northern areas: Vaccination certificate a must for hotel bookings

He added that vaccination will be mandatory for tourism which will be enforced during the upcoming Eid holidays.

The NCOC has made vaccination certificates mandatory for tourists' hotel bookings in AJK and northern areas. The forum has also warned that strict disciplinary action would be taken against the violators and the institutions not complying with the SOPs.

During the last 24 hours, 47,015 tests were conducted out of which 1,808 came out positive. The country's Covid-19 tally stands at 975,092 while the positivity ratio is 3.84%.

Pakistan continues to see spike in Covid-19 cases

According to the province-wise breakdown, the total cases reported in Sindh are 347,478, in Punjab 348,309, in Islamabad 83,764, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 139,463, in Balochistan 27,994, in Gilgit-Baltistan 6,904 and in Azad Jammu and Kashmir 21,180.