KARACHI: National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has announced to lift lockdown imposed in the Sindh province from August 09 while continuing with other restrictions on movement.

According to the NCOC, Karachi and Hyderabad will face new restrictions on movement from August 09.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Sindh province announced to impose lockdown in the province from July 31 until August 08 citing a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Earlier in the day, a session of the NCOC was briefed that the fourth wave of Covid-19 has entered its sixth week in the country and losing some of its steam.

The session of the NCOC in Karachi was held at the CM House hosted by Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah. Federal Minister Asad Umar, Lt Gen Hamood-uz-Zaman, Special Assistant to PM Khalid Mansoor and other officials attended the meeting.

“The pandemic is raging in Azad Jammu and Kashmir with a ratio of Covid-19 positive cases soared to 26 percent,” the session was informed in the briefing. “Test Positivity Rate in Sindh has been 13 pct,” the meeting told.

“In Karachi positivity rate has been 21 percent, which is dropped by three pct from the previous positivity ratio,” the NCOC session briefed.

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However, the hike in coronavirus cases in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is slower, according to the briefing.

The meeting was informed that 67 percent cases in Karachi are coming from Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Hyderabad.

“Daily 500 patients adding to the total number of infections in the country,” the meeting briefed.

“There are 1210 patients in precarious condition in Karachi, which is maximum in the country. The death rate has also enhanced in the city.”

“The Delta variant wave has been more intensive in Karachi,” the NCOC session briefed. “The Sindh government has taken stringent measures to counter the virus disease”.