KARACHI: Sharing concerns over the worsening situation of Covid-19 in the country, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Wednesday urged the government to impose a full, countrywide lockdown to control the rising number of infections.
PMA General Secretary Dr Qaiser Sajjad told a private television channel coming weeks can be tough for Pakistan given how the coronavirus is spreading.
“Our situation is also turning like India[‘s],” he said and added that micro or smart lockdowns will not serve the purpose now. “We have to stop the movement of the masses as it is the need of the hour and only situation to control the situation,” he said.
Dr Qaiser said the government should consider imposing a blanket lockdown to bring the number of cases down.
Pakistan recorded more than two hundred Covid-19 deaths in a day for the first time since the start of the pandemic in February last year.
A total of 201 new deaths were recorded, bringing the country’s overall death toll from the virus to 17,530, according to the National Command Operation Centre (NCOC), which oversees the government’s pandemic response.
The previous highest daily death count was 157 recorded on April 23.
A total of 5,292 new cases were reported on Tuesday, bringing the total cases to 810,231.
