ISLAMABAD: While thousands in every city and town across the country thronged to markets and malls to shop for Eidul Fitr before the start of the long closure, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Saturday said the danger of coronavirus slipping out of control was greater than ever before and knocking at our doors.
The government portal reported 120 deaths and 4,105 new cases of Covid-19 in a single day ahead of a planned closure of all business and transport for a week starting Saturday (today).
But traders associations said they intended to defy the restrictions. The commissioner of Islamabad earlier said the administration will strictly implement the government plan.
“We realise that the mobility restrictions put into place from today till the 16th are going to cause inconvenience,” Umar, who also heads the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), said in a series of tweets.
We realize that the mobility restrictions put into place from today till the 16th are going to cause inconvenience. These measures have been necessitated by the extremely dangerous situation which has been created in the region with the spread of virulent mutations of the virus
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) May 8, 2021
“These measures have been necessitated by the extremely dangerous situation which has been created in the region with the spread of virulent mutations of the virus.”
He also pointed to India which reported a record one-day rise in Covid-19 deaths on Saturday as cases surged by more than 400,000 for the third consecutive day.
“The unfortunate catastrophe unfolding in India has grabbed global headlines. Yesterday there were more than 4 lakh cases in India with 4,194 deaths. Hospital systems have been overwhelmed and oxygen supply run out in many places,” he said.
He recalled that Iran witnessed a sharp increase in cases in the same time period with active cases growing two-and-a-half fold and daily deaths exceeding 400 in a day “in a country with a population less than half of Pakistan”.
“Even a small country like Nepal saw an exponential rise in cases going up above 7,000 daily. Deaths also rose sharply. You can see the entire region is exploding with cases & deaths, in the latest covid wave,” he observed.
“We have Alhamdulillah been spared the worst by timely decisions,” he said.
“The need for caution is clear. The danger is higher than ever and knocking at our doors. Need the country to unite in response and achieve once again what we achieved in the first wave, for which we received global praise. Inshallah, we will do it again, together.”
Minister of State for National Health Services Dr. Faisal Sultan has also advised people to stay home and avoid rushing to markets.
The country is currently in the middle of a third peak which authorities say is worse than the previous ones. Since last year, it has reported 18,797 deaths from Covid-19 among 854,240 cases.
