Pakistan ramadan
People waiting for their turn to buy food just before iftar in Pakistan. Image Credit: APP

Dubai: Pakistan has reported sharp increase in number of coronavirus patients with 700 new cases and 12 deaths on the second day of Ramadan.

As the country was already grappling to combat coronavirus spread, opening of mosques to offer congregational prayers and ease in lockdown during Ramadan have further deteriorate the situation, accordignto doctors.

The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has also called for a strict enforcement of the lockdown to prevent congregations of all kinds to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. Addressing a press conference on Monday, representatives of the PMA including President Dr Abdul Wahid Abbasi, Dr Muhammad Usaman Mako, Dr Zulifqar Soomro. Dr Iftikhar Shah, called upon the government to involve (in its task force) health experts from public sector medical universities/hospitals and organisations of doctors actively fighting the deadly virus.

“We kept quiet and were avoiding to give our opinion as government was taking steps to save the country from deadly effects of coronavirus, but now the cases are in thousands which is alarming,” they said. Highlighting the gaps in the government strategy on Covid-19 and sharing suggestions, they said the government must reflect why the numbers of coronavirus cases were growing despite the lockdown, reported APP.

Ramadan

Meanwhile, the total tally of confirmed coronavirus cases has increased to 13328 on Monday morning with 281 reported deaths and 3029 recoveries. Punjab remains the worst-hit with 5446 cases followed by Sindh 5615, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 1864, Gilgit Baltistan 318, Islamabad 245 and Pakistan Administered Kashmir with 59 cases.