KARACHI: Sindh Health and Population Welfare Minister Dr Azra Pechuho revealed that provincial health department had started screening of travellers on buses and at railway stations to monitor the situation and prepare for it appropriately.

She shared these updates during a press conference held at 3rd floor auditorium of Sindh Assembly building. Sindh Minister for Local Government and Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and Parliamentary Secretary for Health Qasim Siraj Soomro were also present on this occasion.

Pechuho announced that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had cancelled the Rawalpindi public gathering, scheduled for April 4 to mark the 42nd death anniversary of its founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and annual Urs of Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar scheduled to take place at shrine in Sehwan Sharif on 12 April, amid the third wave of Covid-19 outbreak.

She explained that within one week there had been over 27,000 positive cases in Lahore, over 9,000 in KP, almost 8,000 in Islamabad and 3307 in Sindh. Out of these, there have been 142 deaths in KP, 434 in Punjab and 30 in Sindh.

The minister stated that due to the rising positivity cases in Punjab, it was necessary to postpone the PPP rally there as well as the annual Urs at Sehwan Sharif. Similarly, in order to curb the spread of pandemic, the department has begun to screen travellers on buses and at train stations to monitor the situation and prepare for it appropriately.

Travellers having fever will be tested for covid-19, and incase of positive result, their districts will be notified and the screened person will be asked to isolate at home for two weeks and their family will be asked to do the same.

The reason behind increased rate of infection in regions other than Sindh is a higher frequency of travelling in other regions.

Pechuho also stated that people aged 50 and above are now allowed to get registered for Covid-19 vaccination. There were total 362,000 doses initially sent by the federal government for 181,000 people. So far 163,808 doses have been utilized including senior citizens from the general population.