Pakistan Medical Association expresses concern over easing of coronavirus restrictions

The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has expressed concern over the decision of the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) to ease coronavirus restrictions too soon, saying that the situation in Sindh, in particular, has taken an alarming turn as Karachi's hospitals are running out of beds due to the rising number of cases.

A statement issued by the PMA said that the decision to ease restrictions too soon could lead to more cases. The situation in Karachi is deteriorating, the statement said, adding that the Sindh government should carefully consider the situation before lifting the restrictions as per the suggestion of the NCOC.

The PMA said patients were are unable to find a place in hospitals, adding that the NCOC took the decision to ease restrictions "in a hurry."

Per the statement, the number of cases is increasing after Eid-ul-Fitr. Even before the third wave of the coronavirus started, the PMA had warned not to relax the restrictions. 

"The PMA always advises to implement a uniform policy in consultation with the provinces and all parties," the statement read.

Sindh to maintain current coronavirus restrictions as cases continue to increase

On the other hand, the Sindh government on Thursday decided to maintain the existing coronavirus restrictions across the province.

A meeting of the provincial task force on coronavirus was held on Thursday. It was chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and attended by provincial ministers, the chief secretary, IG, additional chief secretary home, Karachi commissioner and other officials.

In the meeting, the Sindh CM said that on the day of Eid-ul-Fitr on May 13, there were 1,232 coronavirus cases in the province and after Eid on May 19, the cases were 2,076 cases, which is a 10.2% increase and shows that cases are increasing in Sindh. Karachi has reported 16.82% of these cases.

The members of the task force and experts at the meeting advised the CM to continue with the existing coronavirus restrictions in the province.

On this, CM Shah said that if the rate of cases decreased, the restrictions will be relaxed. If the cases increase, the government will impose stricter restrictions, but is finding it difficult to relax the restrictions [currently] in the province, he said.

The Sindh CM instructed the task force members to review the situation and suggest further steps, while it was decided to maintain the current COVID-19 restrictions across the province.

A day earlier, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho had said she expects the rate of coronavirus cases to increase in the coming days because of Eid travel.

Last year, the infection rate rose threefold after Eid.

Dr Pechuho was attending a National Command and Operation Centre meeting to review coronavirus restrictions via zoom link.

What are the coronavirus restrictions in Sindh?

According to a notification issued by the Sindh government on May 17, indoor and outdoor dining in restaurants, hotels and food streets in the province is closed while bakeries and dairy shops can be kept open till 12 noon.

In addition to this, in light of the NCOC guidelines, business hours are from 6 am to 8 pm, while business will be completely closed on Saturdays and Sundays, but essential services are exempt from these hours.

The provincial government has also issued coronavirus standard operating procedures to accommodate 50% less passengers than the capacity in all types of public transport.

Wedding halls, business centres, expo halls, gyms are closed and sports activities banned across the province, while cinemas, theatres, parks and shrines, too, are supposed to be closed.

New COVID-19 cases back above 4,000 mark

Pakistan reported over 4,000 coronavirus cases in 13 days after 4,207 new infections emerged on Thursday, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 890, 391 since the pandemic hit the country last year.

Last time, Pakistan reported over 4,000 cases on May 17 when 4,109 infections were registered.

The country recorded an 8.22% positivity rate across the country, according to the official data provided by the NCOC.

Pakistan reported 131 new fatalities in the last 24 hours, taking the national death toll to 19,987. In addition, nationwide recoveries were recorded at 804,122.

Punjab remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic both in terms of cases reported as well as deaths followed by Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan.

So far, 331,102 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Punjab, 303,323 in Sindh, 128,033 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,24,223 in Balochistan, 79,789 in Islamabad, 18,469 in Azad Kashmir, and 5,452 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Furthermore, 9,640 individuals have lost their lives to the virus in Punjab, 4,854 in Sindh, 3,855 in KP, 239 in Balochistan, 740 in Islamabad, 521 in Azad Kashmir, and 107 in GB.

As many as 51,130 tests were conducted to diagnose coronavirus in the past 24 hours. The total number of tests currently stands at 12,603,469.