Will impose lockdown in areas with higher number of coronavirus cases: Rashid

LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Yasmin Rashid said on Tuesday that the provincial government will impose a lockdown in areas with higher number of coronavirus cases to stem the spread of the disease.

The provincial health minister spoke to media today, where she said that the government had warned earlier that the number of cases will rise.

The minister said that the final decision regarding the lockdown will be taken by the cabinet committee.

“Lahore has more than 19,000 coronavirus cases,” said the Punjab health minister, adding that when the lockdown was eased ‘people thought that the coronavirus has left’.

Dr Rashid said that the cases are rising due to the violation of SOPs, even though people were fined for flouting the rules.

Punjab has every kind of data, she said, adding that they are witnessing the benefits of ACTEMRA injection against the virus.

“There are reports that ACTEMRA injection is being stocked to be sold in black,” said the minister, adding in the same vein the medicine is not life-saving.

She said that in Punjab, the highest number of tests were done and several doctors, who were not treating the virus patients, got infected.

She said that the province has a great number of testing kits.

WHO recommends Punjab impose strict 2-week lockdown 

The World Health Organisation has recommended enforcing a strict two-week lockdown in Punjab as the number of coronavirus cases continues to grow in the province.

The organisation said during the lockdown, the country was reporting 1,000 cases per day. However, this number increased after the federal government eased the lockdown in the country. “SOPs need to be strictly enforced to stem the spread of the virus,” the letter said.

Read more: WHO recommends Punjab impose strict 2-week lockdown to stem COVID-19 spread

WHO recommends that for any government that wants to start lifting restrictions, the following six conditions must be met:

• Disease transmission is under control
• Health system can “detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact”
• Hot spot risks are minimized in vulnerable places, such as nursing homes
• Schools, workplaces and other essential places have established preventive measures
• The risk of importing new cases “can be managed”
• Communities are fully educated, engaged and empowered to live under a new normal

WHO strongly recommends that the government adopts the two weeks off and two weeks on strategy as it offers the smallest curve. It also recommends strengthening all public health measures such as quarantine, isolation, physical distancing and contact tracing.

Punjab so far has recorded more than 40,000 cases and above 600 deaths.