ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has said that the COVID-19 situation has reached an alarming level, and if the rising trend of the pandemic is not contained in a couple of days, the government will have to take further strict steps in the major cities.
While addressing a news conference after a meeting of the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) in Islamabad on Wednesday, Asad Umar regretted that people as well as the administration are not showing the level of seriousness that they demonstrated during the first wave of COVID-19, which was successfully controlled.
Giving the latest figures, Asad Umar said that there are currently over 83,000 COVID-19 patients in the Country, and that the positivity ratio has crossed even 30 percent in certain cities.
The minister said that Sindh had relatively been safe; however, the positivity ratio in Karachi also reached 13 percent yesterday.
Statistics 21 April 21:
Total Tests in Last 24 Hours: 47,301
Positive Cases: 5499
Positivity % : 11.62%
Deaths : 148— NCOC (@OfficialNcoc) April 21, 2021
Asad Umar said that over 600 patients are being brought to hospitals daily, and the number of patients on oxygen has crossed 4,500 which is 33 percent higher than the peak level of the first wave.
The federal minister said that more than 85 percent ventilators in several cities are occupied. He said that the oxygen production in the Country is not unlimited, and currently, over 90 percent of the capacity is being produced.
The minister said that the current week is going to witness the highest ever death toll in a week since the pandemic has hit the Country.
Asad Umar appealed people to demonstrate seriousness in observance of standard operating procedures (SOPs) to check the fast spread of the Coronavirus pandemic in the Country.
