Pak warns to reimpose lockdown if flouting of coronavirus safety measures continues: official

The Pakistan government would reimpose a strict lockdown in the country if violations of the safety measures against the spread of coronavirus continued, senior official said on Monday.

Pakistan's coronavirus cases on Monday reached 56,349 with 1,748 new patients while the death toll climbed to 1,167 after 34 people lost their lives in the last 24 hours.

The warning by the Pakistan government comes weeks after after the nation had started phase-wise easing of the nation-wide lockdown earlier this month.

In a message, Special Assistant on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said the government eased lockdown before Eid but people flouted necessary standard operating procedures (SOPs) creating fear and uncertainty.

As we promised when we eased the lockdown, if this trend continues we may reimpose strict lockdowns after Eid, he said.

He observed that apparently there was perception that threat of the coronavirus was over.

"Unfortunately, there is now this thinking among us that this disease (COVID-19) was only here till Eid and that somehow it' will disappear after Eid. This is a huge misunderstanding, he said.

He warned that carelessness may result in a tragedy.

"I want to warn Pakistanis that if you don't take precautionary measures, this crisis could turn into a huge tragedy. I urge the nation to act with extreme responsibility to curb the spread of the virus, he said. Mirza said that the cases were rising very fast and there was more need to be careful.

"Unfortunately, there are 112 patients intubated in Pakistan right now. These patients are critically ill and are fighting for their lives at this very moment." Mirza said.

The authorities also had conducted 483,656 tests in the country, including 10,049 on Sunday.

The trajectory showed that the number was steadily going up and it was feared that it would further curve up in the wake of easing of lockdown before Eid which was observed on Sunday.