ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning and Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has urged the people to strictly follow the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and get vaccinated at the earliest to contain the spread of the Indian variant of Covid-19.
Addressing a news conference along with Special Assistant on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Dr Faisal Sultan in Islamabad, on Sunday, the minister said the Indian variant spreads very fast.
He said the government is arranging vaccines to protect people from the coronavirus.
Umar urges Sindh govt to review strategy
He said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has been successful to combat the previous waves of coronavirus and now we will be able to protect our people from the current wave and without affecting their employment. Dr Faisal Sultan said the fourth wave of the coronavirus has put pressure on the health system of Karachi, Abbottabad and Islamabad.
He said now the positivity ratio has surged to 8.8 percent in the country.
He said the number of cases is also increasing on daily basis due to the fourth wave of coronavirus.
The special assistant urged the citizens to follow the precautionary measures against the corona pandemic.
Complete lockdown not the solution, says Asad Umar
He said vaccination is of vital importance as it reduces the risk of coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Planning Minister Asad Umar has said that by the end of August at least 40 percent of eligible population in major cities will be vaccinated against Covid-19.
In a tweet on Sunday, he said that the process of vaccination will be accelerated in August. He said total vaccinations carried out so far now exceed two and a half crores. He said that total number of people vaccinated has now crossed 2 crores.
APP adds: Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Monday indicated that to control spread of Indian variant of Covid-19, the government might impose lockdown in selected sectors of the country's urban centers. The decision in this regard, he said would be made in a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday (August 02).
"We will present recommendation to the Prime Minister in the meeting where it would be decided that which sectors are being closed down and to what extent," Asad Umar said while addressing a press conference here after chairing the meeting of National Command and Operation Center (NCOC).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021