LAHORE: Punjab registered 1,653 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the highest daily rise since June, government statistics showed, the latest in a steady rise in infections in recent weeks after months of limited spread.
The last time the densely populated province reported such a high number of cases was during the first wave on June 24, 2020, when it confirmed 1,655 infections.
The provincial tally now stands at 185,468, the government portal keeping track of the outbreak in Pakistan showed. The majority of cases, 973, were reported in Lahore, followed by 81 in Gujranwala, 76 in Sialkot, and 73 in Rawalpindi.
In view of the third wave of the pandemic, the provincial government has imposed more restrictions in seven high-burdened cities starting from Monday onwards.
The lockdown, which comes after a gap of one year, will remain in force for two weeks in the cities of Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala, and Gujrat.
According to a statement by the provincial health department, the lockdown will restrict the movement of the people; there will be a complete ban on gatherings of all kinds for social, religious, or other purposes at any place, public or private; marriage and banquet halls, community centres and marquees will remain closed.
The upper limit for outdoor gatherings in the rest of the province is 300 people for the maximum duration of two hours.
A complete ban has been imposed on indoor and outdoor dining while only takeaway and home delivery will be allowed.
The statement also said that there will be a complete ban on all kinds of sports, cultural and other activities and events throughout the province.
Also on Saturday, the Punjab government enforced a smart lockdown in 36 more localities of three cities, including the provincial capital.
The authorities suspect a new coronavirus variant, know as VUI-202103/01 and first identified in the United Kingdom, to be behind the sharp surge in the positive cases.
The variants are mutant versions of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19, which has already killed more than 2.65 million people in the pandemic.
While scientists say that mutations in viruses are inevitable, Covid-19 variants of concern such as those first identified in southeast England, South Africa, and Brazil have worrisome changes that give the virus advantages, such as increased transmissibility or reducing the effectiveness of vaccines.
INCREASING TRANSMISSION RATE:
Meanwhile, the NCOC expressed “serious concern” after 2,664 new cases of the coronavirus surfaced across the country on Sunday, taking the national tally to 605,200.
“A sharp rise in national positivity (ratio) is visible and is hovering around 5-6 per cent. Rising disease trend was a matter of serious concern,” the NCOC said through a statement.
The nearly 6 per cent rise follows a drop in coronavirus positivity ratio to almost three percent in January.
According to the statement, 32 more people succumbed to the disease during this period, taking the death toll to 13,508.
A total of 40,564 samples were tested, out of which 2,664 turned out to be positive, the NCOC said.
The positivity rate of Covid-19 cases was recorded at 6.56 per cent, it pointed out, adding the number of active cases has surged to 21,121.
1,805 of the patients currently under treatment are said to be in critical condition. A total of 570,571 people have recovered.
The forum has called for immediate measures to ensure strict implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) amid the rising number of cases.
Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar, who heads the NCOC, has signalled the government may opt for another quarantine in coronavirus hotspots.
“The third wave of coronavirus has started in Pakistan and lockdown can be imposed in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to curb the spread of coronavirus,” warned the minister.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has also extended the duration for restrictions imposed on inbound flights, which will remain in place until March 18, according to a statement.
