ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Wednesday said that the government is scrapping all the COVID-19 related restrictions all across Pakistan.
“The pandemic has not ended yet but undergoing the ending phase,” Umar said while addressing a press briefing of Asad Umar, flanked by SAPM on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
Asad Umar, who is also the NCOC chief, said that after reviewing the COVID-19 situation in the country in detail, the forum has decided to lift all coronavirus restrictions, including protocols for indoor dinings, indoor wedding events and markets, sports activities and all other SOPs across Pakistan.
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However, he said that the only restriction that would continue is the vaccination aginst COVID-19, but that too till the vaccination ratio reaches 80% or above.
“Then we will consider if we still need to keep the restrictions for vaccination in place,” he said.
The NCOC’s data for Wednesday showed that 493 coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours while the positivity ratio stood at 1.42%.
Earlier, the government had also decided to shut down the NCOC by the end of the next month and the responsibilities of the forum will be carried out by the National Institute of Health.
“The positivity ratio has been continuously decreasing in the country for the last seven to eight weeks,” the minister said, adding that the number of patients admitted to the hospitals has also declined.
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He said that the NCOC observed that the number of patients in critical care units has not only dipped but has also fallen to the lowest level since October 2020, while a further declined is expected.
“Taking the situation into account, we have to come out of this pandemic and for that we need a period of transition to move towards normal life,” he said.
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