Special Assistant to the PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza on Monday hinted at a strict lockdown, saying that the number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan was increasing.

During a media briefing in Islamabad, Mirza said the government would evaluate the prevailing situation immediately after Eid and could review the earlier decision of relaxing the lockdown if the situation got worse.

He claimed that the lockdown was relaxed in view of Eid but it seemed people were under a wrong impression that prevalence of disease was reducing.

SOPs are not being properly followed during the interaction among people during Eid holidays, which could lead to a disastrous situation, he added.

Similar views were expressed by Ajmal Wazir – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s spokesperson – who said the people were not following the SOPs and lockdown would have to be tightened in case the number of cases continued rising.

Although the PTI’s government members and party leaders have been critical of Sindh for introducing and advocating lockdown in the country, there has been a sharp rise in the coronavirus cases ever since the lockdown was relaxed.

As of Monday morning, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases jumped to 56,349 after the virus was found in another 1,748 people during the past 24 hours.

The same period saw the country recording 34 more coronavirus-related deaths, raising the overall death toll to 1,167 since the outbreak of this pandemic.

That’s why even Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province ruled by the PTI since 2013, is forced to talk about a tightened lockdown despite the fact that Prime Minister Imran Khan has always been against lockdown.

Moreover, more and more prominent personalities are being infected by the virus in the province with the provincial chief secretary, Dr Kazim Niaz, being the latest addition to the list.

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