Islamabad: The provincial governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab caught in the grip of an impending ‘second’ wave of COVID-19 are taking measures to pre-empt the virus’ return in the winter season.
The KP government has directed its provincial health and the administrative authorities to make all the necessary preparations in this regard.
Chief Minister Mahmood Khan while chairing a meeting directed an effective mechanism through close coordination among the stakeholders and departments concerned to ensure that the pandemic doesn’t return or even if it does, its impact is not that powerful as it was in June or July in this year.
The meeting also reviewed the current situation of coronavirus in the province and the preparations of the government to deal with the possible outbreak of the virus.
He directed the availability of all the required medicines and medical equipment in all the public sector hospitals of the province to enhance the overall testing capacities for suspected COVID-19 patients.
KP has reported so far 38,141 confirmed cases of coronavirus while the number of deaths so far caused by the virus are 1,263. The province reported one death and 36 new cases in the last twenty-four hours.
Punjab imposes micro-smart lockdown
Like KP, the Punjab government has also alerted the health authorities imposing micro-smart lockdowns across the province to curb the possible spread of COVID-19.
The Punjab health department has selected 856 sensitive areas for the limited locality-based lockdowns, and quarantined around 7,295 infected people, according to an official here on Wednesday.
The number of deaths caused by the virus in the province has jumped to 2,245 (second to Sindh where the toll number is 2,531) while there are more than 100,145 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the province. In the last twenty-four hours the province reported 115 new cases and two deaths.
Pakistan registers slight drop in recovery rate
Overall, Pakistan on Wednesday reported a total 316,351 confirmed cases of coronavirus with 624 emerging in the last twenty-four hours.
The number of deaths so far stands at 6,535 with 12 reported in the last one day. According to the health ministry’s portal, the death rate has crossed a little over 2 per cent (from 1.94 per cent to 2.1 per cent). Similarly, the recovery rate has dropped from 96 per cent to 95.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has warned that the recently-formed opposition parties’ alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement could contribute to spread of coronavirus through its public rallies and meetings in coming days.
The 11-party anti-government alliance is set to hold its first public meeting on October 16 in Gujranwala, Punjab.
“I fear their rallies will spread the virus again,” Rashid said. He advised people to be cautious and wear masks to protect themselves from coronavirus.
