Wary of rising coronavirus cases, NCOC to decide about Pakistan Day parade tomorrow
Last year, the government had cancelled the Pakistan Day parade due to the coronavirus situation
March 21, 2021
ISLAMABAD: With Islamabad and Pakistan both reporting an alarming number of coronavirus cases each day, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has decided to call a session tomorrow (Monday) to decide whether the Pakistan Day parade should be held or not.
The forum will discuss whether the parade should be cancelled or held on a limited scale.
The NCOC’s session would also take stock of the education sector and the prevailing situation brought about by the third wave of the coronavirus across the country.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, in a brief press conference, had spoken about the abrupt spike in COVID-19 positivity ratio across the country and the public's negligence in following safety protocols outdoors.
Last year, the government had cancelled the Pakistan Day parade scheduled for March 23, 2020, as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
At the time, the coronavirus had affected 28 people in Pakistan and more than 120,000 people across the world, causing the deaths of more than 4,500 people globally.
No doubt that the third coronavirus wave has begun: Asad Umar
NCOC chief Asad Umar had earlier issued a grim warning: the third coronavirus wave has begun in Pakistan.
Speaking to DawnNews a couple of days ago, the planning minister had said: "Yes, absolutely. There is no doubt that the third wave has begun. Basically, the phenomena driving it is the spread of the UK strain."
Umar had said the districts where there was a higher positivity ratio had a high number of Pakistanis living in the UK.
"We had genome sequencing done from NIH (National Institute of Health) and [...] the dominant strain is the UK strain," the minister had said.
He had said the UK strain was already known to transmit more easily and so spreads faster, compared to the original Wuhan strain.
"And now with a new report we have also found that the mortality rate is higher," he added.
Umar had said that since Pakistan's first death in March last year and until now in 2021, "our fatality rate [...] saw a clear and sustained increase and we had speculated that it may be linked to this strain but now the international report establishes it".
"So this is a very dangerous situation that is developing."
