Pakistan's Sindh govt tightens restrictions as COVID-19 cases surge

Chief Minister of Pakistan's Sindh province Murad Ali Shah on Sunday announced that restrictions were being tightened in the province in view of increasing coronavirus cases, adding that standard operating procedures (SOPs) cannot be relaxed at the moment, The Express Tribune reported.

Addressing at the press conference along with medical experts and representatives of doctors' organisations, Murad said, "COVID-19 positivity ratio in Karachi is more than 13 per cent as we deal with the third wave of coronavirus.This shows that the cases are on the rise since Eid, and we are finding it difficult to ease the restrictions in the province."

This comes after the government of Sindh province had extended the coronavirus restrictions for another two weeks on Saturday amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Announcing measures taken by the provincial government, Murad said that shops across the province would be open till 6 pm instead of 8 pm (local time), only pharmacies would be allowed to remain open, except for those inside shopping malls.

The minister warned that action will be taken against shop owners in case of violation.

Regarding educational institutions, the Coronavirus Task Force stated that, "Schools will only be opened when the pandemic is under control", The Express Tribune reported.

As COVID-19 cases are rapidly surging in Pakistan, the cumulative count of infections in the country crossed 900,000 mark on Sunday.

Citing National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, Geo News reported that at least 74 more people have succumbed to coronavirus in Pakistan, taking the nationwide COVID-19 death toll to 20,251, while over 3,084 new infections have been reported, pushing the tally to 900,552.

( With inputs from ANI )

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