PM Imran Khan will host a conference on COVID-19 as the fourth wave sweeps Pakistan

Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan called a conference on the coronavirus on Monday, because the pandemic has gotten out of control and the positive rate reported in the past two days has exceeded 8%.

Although the health authorities have repeatedly warned about the implementation of government-mandated safety agreements, the COVID-19 situation in the country has further deteriorated after Eid al-Fitr.

The meeting will discuss the surge in positive coronavirus cases and will consider measures to curb the spread of the virus in the country’s Delta variant.

The Prime Minister will also hear a briefing on the blockade imposed on Sindh after the infection rate has risen sharply since July 31 (Saturday).

Federal ministers strongly opposed the province’s restrictions, saying it would undermine the economic progress made so far.

The Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Chowdhury Fawad Hussein, said on Saturday that the unilateral actions of the Sindh provincial government violated the instructions of the National Command and Control Center (NCOC) and the federal government and would cause huge damage to the national economy.

He said in a video statement that people are worried about the provincial government’s decision, especially the implementation of a total blockade in Karachi.

“The closure of industries in Sindh will harm the economy and cause employment problems. Industries where 100% of the workforce is vaccinated should be reopened,” he said.

Nearly 5,000 new infections

At the same time, data released by the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) on Monday showed that at least 40 COVID-19 patients died overnight and there were 4,858 new cases across the country.

According to the latest statistics from NCOC, in the past 24 hours, a total of 56,414 COVID-19 tests were conducted nationwide, of which 4,858 were confirmed as positive.

The official portal stated that the country’s positive case rate was 8.61%, which is the highest positive rate since May 17.

The death toll rose to 23,462, and the total number of cases reached 1,039,965.