World News | Pak Minister Asks People to Celebrate Eid with Simplicity to Stop Virus Spread
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. The next ten days would be crucial in Pakistan's fight against the coronavirus, a senior minister said on Thursday and asked the public to celebrate Eid with simplicity and follow precautions to stop the spread of the deadly virus.
Islamabad, Jul 23 (PTI) The next ten days would be crucial in Pakistan's fight against the coronavirus, a senior minister said on Thursday and asked the public to celebrate Eid with simplicity and follow precautions to stop the spread of the deadly virus.
Planning Minister Asad Umar said that Eid al-Adha (the Festival of the Sacrifice) would be observed on August 1 and activities before and after Eid would be crucial.
“We saw the cases and deaths increased after Eidul Fitr (in May) because people showed negligence around it,” he said.
He said all provincial chief secretaries were given "special instructions" to ensure implementation of the health guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures issued for Eid bazaars, cattle markets and Eid congregations.
Also Read | Bill Gates Unhappy With US Handling of COVID-19 Crisis, Cites 'Politicisation' of Face Masks Among Reasons.
Umar urged the public to celebrate Eid with simplicity and follow all precautions in order to stop the spread of the virus.
His comments came as Pakistan recorded 1,763 news cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, taking the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country to 169,191.
The Ministry of National Health Services said the virus death toll is 5,709, including 32 fatalities in the last 24 hours, and that 213,175 people have recovered from it. Another 1,382 people are in critical condition.
So far, Sindh has reported 115,213 cases, Punjab 91,129 cases, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 32,753 cases, Islamabad, 14,722 cases, Balochistan 11,517 cases, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 1,961 cases and Gilgit-Baltistan 1,896 cases.
In the last 24 hours, 22,408 COVID-19 detection tests have been carried out. In total, 1,799,290 have been conducted in the country.
Special Assistant on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said the number of new cases has decreased in the last few weeks, especially in Punjab province which has seen a drop of about 85 per cent.
“Commendable work by Punjab, resulting in a decline in cases. Positive cases on June 13 was 2,705 and on July 22 was 372,” he tweeted, adding that the "challenge was not over".
Mirza said the upcoming holiday of Eidul Adha on August 1 needed “redoubled commitment by all of us”.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)