Ban wedding celebrations in vulnerable areas – VG

“This third wave is more intense than the first two,” Prime Minister Imran Khan said Wednesday, according to the daily Dawn.

The Prime Minister, who himself has been infected with the coronavirus, calls on the population of the country to follow the infection control rules.

“Half of our hospitals are full, the number of patients is increasing in hospitals, including those who need oxygen and a ventilator,” he continues.

In the last week, more than 4,000 new cases of infection have been recorded per day in Pakistan, and the trend of infection in the country is increasing, according to the VG summary.

In the last 24 hours, 50,170 corona tests have been conducted in the country and 5,234 positive responses constitute a participation of about one percent.

Throughout the pandemic, 678,165 cases of infection have been recorded in Pakistan. A total of 14,613 people have lost their lives to the coronavirus in Pakistan, 83 of them on Friday.

– If the increase continues at this rate, we will exceed the levels of the first wave of infection in June over the next few days or weeks. Everyone should remember what the situation was like then, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar tells Dawn.

However, Prime Minister Imran Khan does not want to impose a national lockdown, noting that the country cannot afford it. Even before the pandemic, about 24 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.

“We must have a balanced approach in which the spread of the virus can be prevented while the poor and the economy of the country are affected as little as possible,” he said according to the Reuters news agency.

More bans on hotspots

Pakistan’s strategy in the corona pandemic has been dubbed “smart locdowns” by experts, and relies primarily on introducing short-term restrictions in limited areas of the country rather than national closures.

Therefore, as of April 5, both outdoor and indoor wedding ceremonies will be banned in cities and districts where the proportion of positive corona tests is eight percent or more, it reports. the dawn newspaper.

Cultural, political and sporting events are also prohibited, these with immediate effect.

– The decision on new restrictions has been made with a view to the continued increase in the spread of the disease and the speed with which hospitals fill up, says Minister Asad Umar.

The worst affected areas are Punjab and the provincial capital Lahore, the capital Islamabad area and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the northwest of the country.

According to Reuters, the lack of police and infection control measures so far has been a problem for Pakistan during the pandemic.

So far, weddings for up to 300 guests have been allowed in Pakistan, if held outdoors, Al Jazeera writes. This has been criticized by health experts for being destructive in the fight against repression of the virus.

Vaccine concerns

The country is now awaiting more doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as promised through the Covax vaccine alliance.

So far, around 800,000 doses of vaccines have been established in the country. Most of the doses are for China’s Sinopharm vaccine, which has been donated by the Beijing authorities.

Pakistan has reached an agreement to buy millions of vaccines from here and, according to the Health Minister, one million doses will arrive this week.

“We want to speed up the process and make sure that a large number of Pakistanis are vaccinated so that it can be an effective tool to stop the spread of this virus,” Health Minister Faisal Sultan told Reuters.