'Considerable decrease' in COVID-19 cases in Punjab, says Dr Yasmin Rashid

• Coronavirus decreasing in Punjab, says Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid.
• Health minister cites mass vaccination and implementation of coronavirus SOPs as reasons for decrease in COVID-19 cases.
• By the end of this year, around 30% to 40% of Punjab's population will be vaccinated against coronavirus, says Punjab health minister.

LAHORE: There has been a considerable decrease in COVID-19 cases in Punjab because of implementation of SOPs and mass vaccination, says Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid.

Dr Rashid was speaking at a press conference at the Chief Minister Secretariat on Sunday.

The reason for improvement in the situation is public awareness and implementation of coronavirus SOPs, she said, imposing lockdowns before Eid helped considerably.

“By implementation of SOPs and after mass vaccination, the chain of transmission can be interrupted significantly. By increasing the number of vaccinated people in three to four months, there will be significant decline in cases," she said.

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Pakistan has started CanSino packaging and formulation which is being prepared in the National Institute of Health. After three months, Pakistan will start producing its vaccine in adequate quantity.

What is the situation of coronavirus in Punjab?

Punjab reported 696 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours and 22 people lost their lives, Dr Rashid said, adding that so far, 339,073 positive cases were reported in the province and 9,982 people lost their lives in the province. 

The minister said in the last 24 hours, 22,339 tests were performed and overall 5,123,420 tests were performed. As per the data of the last three days, the positivity ratio has not exceeded over 8% in the province and in most districts, it is below 5%.

“The positivity ratio in Lahore is 1.5%. There has been a considerable decrease in corona cases in Punjab. There was a steep rise in the number of cases last month in Gujranwala, but currently only 20% of the reserved resources are under use of COVID-19 patients," she said.

The number of recovered patients is hoped to be much higher than the new admissions. 

What is the status of COVID-19 vaccinations in Punjab?

Punjab is vaccinating more than 150,000 people per day. In June, the health minister said, the province will achieve the daily average of 250,000 to 300,00 and from July more than 4000,000 people will be vaccinated on a daily basis. 

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So far, Punjab has vaccinated more than 3,500,000 people. 

"Hopefully we will achieve the target set by the NCOC very soon. Misconceptions and rumours are being spread about the vaccine," she said.

The registration process of Pfizer vaccine is under way at the DRAP and so far we have received 100,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine. All medical students of private and government institutions shall be vaccinated very soon.” 

She said that by the end of this year, around 30% to 40% of Punjab's population will be vaccinated against coronavirus.