Punjab forbids processions, gatherings across province

In a media briefing on Sunday, the health minister said that in Lahore the infection rate has gone down as compared to last week as positivity rate of Covid cases has dropped to 18% from 23%.

She added that the infection rate and number of cases will only go down if coronavirus Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are strictly implemented.

“Nearly 50 ventilators are available in Lahore while 42% high-dependency oxygen beds are occupied,” she stressed, adding that “Further 10 ventilators have been installed there as well”.

“The government of Punjab also set up a 280-bed field hospital in the Lahore Expo Centre with nonstop oxygen supply,” she said.

Referring to the alarming situation amid Covid-19 in Gujranwala, the minister said that covid patients are facing difficulties in the district as all the ventilators were occupied there.

“We are sending five more ventilators to Gujranwala,” she stated.

The minister said that all preparations have been made to prevent any emergency situation and government has also decided to install oxygen generators at big teaching hospitals across the province.

 “The positivity ratio of coronavirus cases in Layyah has escalated to 31%”.

The minister also revealed that Auqaf and Religious Affairs ministry has placed a ban on Aitekaaf due to the prevailing current wave of coronavirus pandemic.

Earlier, a notification in this regard to has also been issued.

Aitekaaf, or seclusion, is a religious ritual in which Muslims worship in solitude while staying in mosques in the last ten days of Ramadan. Most mosques in Pakistan make provisions for Aitekaaf.

To contain the spread of novel coronavirus, Pakistan has placed strict restrictions with markets closing on the weekend and all shops closed by 6 pm.

Meanwhile, as Pakistan is experiencing the third wave of coronavirus which is said to be deadlier and more contagious than previous two waves the country reported 113 Covid-fatalities.

According to National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), around 4,414 cases of coronavirus were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 18,070.

The total number of confirmed cases reached to 829,933.

As many as 722,202 patients have recovered from the disease with 5,448 critical cases