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DPA
Islamabad
Pakistan may reinforce its lockdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus, officials said on Monday, amid a spike in infections and deaths three weeks after restrictions were lifted.
Health authorities and regional governments expressed alarm as Pakistan’s confirmed coronavirus caseload surged past 56,000, with nearly 1,200 related deaths. The number of confirmed cases has more than doubled from 23,000 on May 6, when the country lifted its lockdown. New reported cases appeared to spike over the Eid al-Fitr this weekend.
“We might go for a nationwide lockdown again because the virus is spreading rapidly,” said Pakistan’s Special Assistant for Health Zafar Mirza, and blamed the fresh wave of infections on the population not adhering to social distancing.
“All warnings by the government were not heard,” Mirza said.
“This carefree approach can aggravate things and our health system can collapse.”
Tens of thousands of people travelled by buses, trains and private cars to celebrate Eid in their ancestral towns over the weekend.
“This situation cannot be left on its own,” said Murad Ali Shah, chief minister of Sindh, Pakistan’s worst-hit province.
Islamabad
Pakistan may reinforce its lockdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus, officials said on Monday, amid a spike in infections and deaths three weeks after restrictions were lifted.
Health authorities and regional governments expressed alarm as Pakistan’s confirmed coronavirus caseload surged past 56,000, with nearly 1,200 related deaths. The number of confirmed cases has more than doubled from 23,000 on May 6, when the country lifted its lockdown. New reported cases appeared to spike over the Eid al-Fitr this weekend.
“We might go for a nationwide lockdown again because the virus is spreading rapidly,” said Pakistan’s Special Assistant for Health Zafar Mirza, and blamed the fresh wave of infections on the population not adhering to social distancing.
“All warnings by the government were not heard,” Mirza said.
“This carefree approach can aggravate things and our health system can collapse.”
Tens of thousands of people travelled by buses, trains and private cars to celebrate Eid in their ancestral towns over the weekend.
“This situation cannot be left on its own,” said Murad Ali Shah, chief minister of Sindh, Pakistan’s worst-hit province.
