Everyday Covid Tally Decreases as SOPs Compliance Increases

 

Pakistan has recorded less than 4,000 cases in a single day for the first time in around a month. Experts have speculated that strict adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs), as well as a widespread vaccination campaign being run by the government and the relevant authorities, have led to the country recording a low single-day tally. 

The organization in charge of overseeing the synchronized efforts of the government to control the coronavirus pandemic, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), reported a total of 3,377 cases in the last 24 hours. This figure below 4,000 has been recorded for the first time since the 5th of April. 

Recently, Pakistan has been experiencing a terrible third wave of the coronavirus, driven mostly by the UK strain of the novel coronavirus. For a large chunk of the last two months, the country has been reporting a single-day tally of more than 5,000 cases. The daily death toll, in addition, has been consistently crossing 100 patients. 

In light of these terrible developments, the government decided to tighten restrictions and take graver steps to curb the rise of the deadly disease. This included the calling of troops to aid the local authorities in the enforcement of coronavirus SOPs. Authorities have continuously been issuing warnings against non-compliance and flouting of coronavirus safety guidelines, introduced by the NCOC. 

The Minister for Planning, Asad Umar, who is also the Chief of the NCOC, tweeted that he has noted a significant improvement in the compliance with SOPs. He credited this progress to stricter measures, as well as the military deployments in the country. 

While revealing some important figures, he discussed how the national average compliance has shot up from 34 percent, recorded on the 25th of April, to 68 percent, recorded on the 3rd of May. However, he still stressed on the sustenance and adherence of SOPs, especially on and till Eid Ul Fitr. 

Fawad Chaudhry, the Information Minister, expressed his disapproval at the fact that though the compliance with SOPs has increased across the country, Karachi is the only city that seems to be taking the virus lightly. He called on the relevant authorities to tighten the restrictions in the City of Lights, or the entire country would have to suffer the consequences. 

He further noted how the most non-compliance with SOPs was being witnessed in Sindh, specifically Karachi. In his opinion, the flouting of coronavirus safety precautions is the reason that the province has been unable to decrease the number of cases. Meanwhile, he lauded the efforts of the authorities of other provinces for bringing stability in the rate of new coronavirus cases. 

In addition to the strict implementation of SOPs, the government of Pakistan has also announced an expansion in the coronavirus vaccination drive. From Monday onwards, even people aged over 40 will be able to get inoculated. 

Asad Umar also revealed in a separate tweet that Pakistan had successfully vaccinated more than 150,000 people on Monday alone.