ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Minister for Planning and Development, Asad Umar, warned on Sunday that COVID-19 cases in the country could double by the end of the month, and even spill over the one million mark by the end of July.
Coronavirus cases in the country surged to almost 140,000 on Sunday with 2,632 deaths so far recorded.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Umar said over 2,000 patients across the country were already occupying oxygen-supported beds and added the federal government would ensure enhancing the availability of these beds across Pakistan.
Umar’s grim projections came a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan ruled out a comprehensive lockdown in the country.
While addressing a press conference in Lahore on Saturday alongside Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and Punjab’s health minister Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Khan said “selective lockdowns” based on tracking and tracing cases would be imposed as opposed to a sweeping lockdown. Khan added the country’s administration and police could not take on the huge burden of a complete lockdown.
Pakistani authorities had identified and sealed off nearly 1,300 hot spots to contain the rising trajectory of new coronavirus infections.
In March, the country put its entire population of nearly 220 million people under lockdown, but the government has since eased restrictions, saying it was necessary to save the country’s economy. The move has caused a huge surge in cases, with health care facilities in some cities reporting an inability to cope.
Since then, Khan has consistently resisted demands from experts to reinforce the lockdown and authorities are now using the term “smart lockdown” to close shops and markets where confirmed cases have increased in recent weeks.
Khan on Saturday said the public had not been taking government mandated SOP’s seriously so far, and warned that there would be “consequences” going forward if COVID-19 protocols were not followed.
Pakistan says coronavirus cases could cross one million by July end
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Pakistan says coronavirus cases could cross one million by July end
- By Saturday, authorities had sealed 1,300 coronavirus hotspots across Pakistan
- COVID-19 cases soared to almost 140,000 with a record 6,825 new infections reported in a single day
Pakistan to sign preferential trade agreement with Russia during Sharif’s upcoming visit — envoy
- Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif plans to visit Russia on March 3-5, Russian state news agency RIA reported this month
- Islamabad will also organize Russia-Pakistan Business Forum, which will have participation from more than 100 Pakistani firms
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is seeking to sign a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Russia to boost bilateral trade volume during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s upcoming visit to Moscow, Pakistan’s ambassador to Moscow has said.
Pakistani Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi said this during the Moscow-Islamabad media forum, which was hosted by Sputnik ahead of Sharif’s scheduled visit to Moscow next month.
Pakistan and Russia, once Cold War rivals, have strengthened ties in recent years. In 2023, Islamabad began purchasing discounted Russian crude oil banned from European markets over Ukraine war, and also received first shipment of liquefied petroleum gas from Moscow.
The volume of Russia-Pakistan trade rose more than 100 percent to $1.81 billion from July 2023 till June 2024, though it experienced slight contraction in the last fiscal year, according to officials.
“Once the prime minister is here, we will start the process of signing PTA with the Eurasian Economic Union and the Russian Federation,” Tirmizi said at the forum.
Pakistan and Russia are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Eurasian political, economic and security organization, and have had sustained high-level interactions and institutional mechanisms in recent years.
PM Sharif plans to visit Russia on March 3-5, Russian state news agency RIA reported this month, citing a Pakistani official.
Tirmizi said Russia-Pakistan ties were not only strategic or bilateral, but they had commercial, people-to-people and business dimensions as well.
“I am very happy to announce that Pakistan is also organizing the second Russia-Pakistan Business Forum during this visit,” he said.
“Over a hundred companies, hundred leading companies are coming from Pakistan to interact with the Russian partners.”
