Govt to increase daily testing

The decision, finalized on Saturday as per sources, will include increasing the daily testing capacity of all four provinces with the federal government providing initial kits. 

Sources have also revealed that the federal government has already tasked NDMA with providing kits to all provinces and federal territories. NDMA has also been instructed to reserve half million testing kits. 

Provinces and federal government have agreed that PPE kits will be procured by the provincial governments themselves. 

Earlier in the day, federal minister for information Fawad Chaudhry warned that if the current wave of the coronavirus pandemic does not start improving within one week then lockdown will be inevitable. On Friday Prime Minister Imran Khan also addressed the nation and said that the army is being deployed to enforce SOPs. 

Pakistan is currently in the midst of a vicious third wave of the pandemic with hospitals filling up quickly. As per the NCOC, during the previous 24 hours, 157 people lost their lives, a record since the beginning of the pandemic. While Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa were initially taking the brunt of the third wave, now Sindh and Balochistan too seem to be in the grip of the disease. 

Measures announced on Friday included the closing of all outdoor dining, schools and educational institutes in areas where positivity is above 5% and strict closure of business by 6:00 pm.