SOPs on Eid-ul azha

Prime Minister Imran Khan has once more urged the state to watch standard operating procedures (SOPs) on Eidul Azha to avoid a spike in Covid-19 cases within the country.

In two-part tweets on Friday, the prime minister highlighted that Pakistan was "amongst the fortunate countries where Covid-19 cases in hospitals, especially in medical care and death rate have gone down, unlike in our unfortunate neighbor India".

He attributed the falling number of cases to the "smart lockdown policy and therefore the nation observing government SOPs" and urged people to continue taking preventive measures that are "essential to sustaining our positive trend".

The premier reiterated the importance of celebrating the upcoming Eidul Azha with "simplicity to not repeat what happened last Eid when SOPs were ignored and our hospitals were choked".

"I am ordering strict implementation of state SOPs," he added.

Earlier this month, the prime minister had made an identical appeal to the state after inaugurating the Isolation Hospital and Infectious Treatment Centre (IHITC) in Islamabad. chatting with the media, he said that "carelessness" on Eidul Fitr in May had led to a spike in cases across the country.

"This led to pressure on our hospitals, our frontline workers also faced immense pressure, we, unfortunately, lost lives and therefore the virus peaked.

"Today, I would like to form a special appeal to you all: if we are careless on Eidul Azha, the virus could spread again and there might be a fresh spike within the number of infections. Hospitals will come struggling again. So I'm appealing to you all to mark this Eid with simplicity."

Citing the risks the virus can pose to the elderly and middle-aged people, the premier added: "I appeal to the whole nation to watch Eid with simplicity — for the sake of your country, it's economy and particularly the elderly and at-risk members of the society.

"If we look out now, then we will manage, God willing, to return out of this pandemic better than other countries."

In recent weeks, new coronavirus cases in Pakistan have continued to say no — a development the govt of Prime Minister Imran Khan dubbed because of the results of its "successful" anti-COVID-19 strategy.

On Tuesday, the country recorded slightly below 2,000 new cases, rock bottom number of daily cases in months, compared to between 5,000 and 6,000 in May and June.

While some experts acknowledge that the ratio of positive cases has gone right down to around 10pc from a peak of 22pc in June, they warn that the forthcoming Eidul Azha would be "crucial" to the country's anti-coronavirus strategy.

"If people begin like they did on Eidul Fitr within the many thousands, then I even have a little question about another spike," a Karachi-based expert says.

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