COVID-19 in Pakistan: Asad Umar asks Opposition to refrain from holding rallies

• Asad Umar slams Shehbaz Sharif for holding publig gathering amid COVID-19 spike.
• Asks if he is only willing to do something positive for Pakistan when in power. 
• The national positivity ratio is again on the rise and has almost climbed to 3%.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar Monday criticized Leader of the Opposition, Shehbaz Sharif, for holding a rally in Swat, saying if he wants to serve the country he should stop holding jalsas with thousands in attendance.

Taking to Twitter, the federal minister took a jibe at the PML-N president and said, “Shahbaz sharif in his NA speech lectured about amazing things he would have done to stop COVID if he was in power”.

“[The] least he can do is not do jalsas with thousands of people as he did in swat yesterday. Or is he only willing to do something positive for Pakistan if he is in power?” the minister tweeted.

The Opposition alliance had organized an anti-government rally in Khyber Pakthtunkha, at which Sharif and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman spoke, alongside other leaders of the PDM.

Read more: Imran Khan left no stone unturned in destroying people of Pakistan: Shahbaz Sharif

Umar, who also heads the National Command and Operation Centre, had last month warned that the fourth COVID-19 wave could hit the country in July if SOPs are not followed and advised the masses to get themselves vaccinated.

He had said they analysed data which hinted that another wave of the pandemic can hit Pakistan if safety protocols are not implemented.

“Reviewed the artificial intelligence-based disease modelling analysis today in NCOC. In the absence of strong SOP enforcement and continued strong vaccination program, the 4th wave could emerge in Pakistan in July,” he had said.

Positivity nears 3%

Pakistan on Monday reported 1,347 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, marking the fifth consecutive day of 1,000+ daily new cases.

Another 19 people lost their lives to COVID-19 over this 24-hour period, as per data from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) issued today.

The country conducted 45,245 COVID-19 tests in the last 24 hours, of which 1,347 came back positive for the virus. The coronavirus positivity ratio currently stands at 2.97%.

The total number of active cases in the country has crossed the 33,000 cases mark and currently stands at 33,299, while the country's total recoveries have increased to 907,934.

A total of 963,660 cases have been detected so far in the country since the pandemic broke out in the country last year and 22,427 people have died from the virus since then.

According to a province-wise breakdown, the total cases reported in Sindh so far are 340,902, in Punjab 346,852, in Khyber Paktunkhwa 138,533, in Islamabad Capital Territory 82,969, in Balochistan 27,419, in Gilgit-Baltistan 6,427 and in Azad Jammu and Kashmir 20,558.