Pakistan Rejects Complete Lockdown If Fourth Coronavirus Wave Grips The Country

Federal minister Asad Umar Thursday forbade the option of a complete lockdown if Pakistan faces a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic. 

While speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of the National Youth Council’s (NYC), newly appointed members, the minister stated that he feared the fourth wave of the virus to start in July. 

He rejected the complete lockdown idea in case the fourth wave of the pandemic grips Pakistan. 

However, according to him, Pakistan will impose smart lockdowns across the country (as it did previously) to curb the virus, if infection cases once again shoot up across the country. The strategy had proven effective in restricting the spread of the virus, he added.

The minister stated that the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), informed the Kashmir Election Commission through a letter regarding violation of coronavirus SOPs during the current election campaigns. 

Umar admired the tackling of the coronavirus by the government, saying that it had been appreciated at the international level as well. He quoted Pakistan's presence in the Economist’s Normalcy Index (determines which countries are returning to their pre-pandemic levels) in which Pakistan resides at number three. 

Read more: The Fourth Wave Could Hit Pakistan in July: Asad Umar

The NCOC chief advised people to continue to follow coronavirus SOPs and to get themselves vaccinated also to cope with the fourth wave of the pandemic effectively.