Asad Umar warns of more virus curbs

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar has warned that the government will introduce more restrictions if people fail to follow government’s guidelines to slow the spread of the disease.

The minister issued the stern warning after chairing an important session at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday.

“At the NCOC, we reviewed the pandemic situation, which is bad. We have taken several decisions to impose more curbs which would be announced on Friday,” Umar said.

He added that the positivity ratio in Karachi and Hyderabad is 13% and 14% respectively, while in Mardan it is 33% and 38% in Bahawalpur. “In several cities, more than 80% of ventilators are in use.”

Umar said the administration has failed to implement the SOPs and the results are evident.

“Health facilities are under stress due to increasing number of positive cases which have now crossed 83,000.”

He also asked the chief ministers to take action against SOP violations and urged them to help the NCOC control the pandemic.

“You are the elected leaders, people have voted for you. They will listen to you,” he said.