National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) chief Asad Umar has stated that while the Pakistani government is closely monitoring the rising numbers of coronavirus cases in the country, no lockdown will be imposed for now.
"For now, we are closely monitoring the numbers from Pakistan and across the globe; we are emphasizing on vaccinations," the NCOC chief explained.
Rather than imposing lockdowns, which have posed a grievous toll on economies around the world, the government instead is focusing on increasing the number of vaccinations and has placed strict bans on certain activities for the non-vaccinated.
As of Thursday, Pakistan's daily coronavirus positivity ratio has exceeded 2 per cent for the first time since October of last year. In the last seven days, Pakistan's major cities, Lahore and Karachi, accounted for 60 percent of all cases in the country.
Jinnah Sindh Medical University (JSMU) Acting Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Shahid Rasul noted, "Not only Omicron, but [the] Delta variant is also spreading [...] and unfortunately, the vaccination ratio in Karachi stand stands at 40 per cent."
The Sindh government said earlier this week that the prevalence of the Omicron variant had spiked to 50 per cent in the province, with the majority of cases being reported in Karachi.
"Omicron spreads at a fast pace, but it isn't lethal [...] however, do not think that nothing will happen to you if you get infected with the Omicron variant," urged the NCOC chief.
"For now, we are closely monitoring the numbers from Pakistan and across the globe; we are emphasizing on vaccinations," the NCOC chief explained.
Rather than imposing lockdowns, which have posed a grievous toll on economies around the world, the government instead is focusing on increasing the number of vaccinations and has placed strict bans on certain activities for the non-vaccinated.
As of Thursday, Pakistan's daily coronavirus positivity ratio has exceeded 2 per cent for the first time since October of last year. In the last seven days, Pakistan's major cities, Lahore and Karachi, accounted for 60 percent of all cases in the country.
Jinnah Sindh Medical University (JSMU) Acting Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Shahid Rasul noted, "Not only Omicron, but [the] Delta variant is also spreading [...] and unfortunately, the vaccination ratio in Karachi stand stands at 40 per cent."
The Sindh government said earlier this week that the prevalence of the Omicron variant had spiked to 50 per cent in the province, with the majority of cases being reported in Karachi.
"Omicron spreads at a fast pace, but it isn't lethal [...] however, do not think that nothing will happen to you if you get infected with the Omicron variant," urged the NCOC chief.