PM Imran urges masses to wear masks to avoid 4th wave of COVID-19

PM Imran urges masses to wear masks to avoid 4th wave of COVID-19

Islamabad (Web Desk): Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday appealed the nation to strictly follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent fourth wave of COVID-19.

In a video message addressed to the nation, the premier said an upward trend in coronavirus cases is being witnessed these days.

“Wearing of face masks at the crowded and closed places is the simplest way to protect oneself from the pandemic,” PM Imran said.

He said the Indian COVID variant is currently the biggest issue for the entire world, including Pakistan.

The prime minister urged the general public to adhere to the preventative measures on the occasion of Eid ul Adha to stay safe.

He also called upon people to get vaccinated at the earliest.

PM Imran said that the government does not want to impose lockdown as it would greatly affect the underprivileged segment of society and the country's economy as well.

“Today the situation in Pakistan regarding coronavirus is far better due to the efforts of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and support by the public”, PM Imran said.

On the other hand, government's Covid-19 portal shows that the number of daily cases dropped from four digits to three digits on June 25.

As per the data, the daily cases being reported remained close to the 900 mark till June 27 and further fell to 735 on June 28.

The number of cases gradually started increasing and doubled in just one week.

The positivity rate, which stood at less than 2% in June, crossed 3% after a gap of 20 days.

On Wednesday, the NCOC also confirmed presence of different variants of coronavirus, including the Delta (Indian), Beta (South African) and Alpha (UK) variants, in Pakistan and detection of their cases in May and June.