Smart lockdown imposed in Gwadar amid surge in Covid cases

As per details, a notification has been issued by the Deputy Commissioner Gwadar according to which the smart lockdown will be enforced in the district from today for an indefinite period.

A statement issued by district administration said that shops in Gwadar would be closed at 7 pm, while public gatherings have been banned.

Moreover, all sports and leisure activities will remain suspended and hotels and restaurants have also been shut down.

Earlier, Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Asad Umar warned of fourth Covid-19 wave in Pakistan, saying spread of new coronavirus variants, especially Indian variant, is one of the main causes.

Taking to twitter, Umar who also head National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), said that field reports are showing complete disregard of the condition of vaccination for those attending indoor weddings and going to indoor restaurants and gyms.

He warned that government will have no choice but to shut wedding halls, restaurants and gyms if te owners of these facilities do not show responsibility and ensure compliance of coronavirus Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).  

The minister further wrote that two weeks earlier he had tweeted about how artificial intelligence models were showing possible emergence of fourth wave adding that there are clear early signs of fourth wave starting.

“Poor sop compliance, coupled with spread of variants of concern, Indian variant in particular, are the main cause,” he concluded.

Pakistan has reported a steep rise in daily coronavirus cases amid fears of fourth wave.

According to National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), around 1,737 cases of coronavirus were reported while 25 people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 22,520.

The total number of confirmed cases reached to 969,476.

As many as 911,383 patients have recovered from the disease with 1,971 critical cases.