KARACHI: The provincial government of the southern Pakistani province of Sindh announced new restrictions on Friday, as the country is grappling with a surge in coronavirus cases fueled by local transmission of the more aggressive delta variant.
Confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Friday crossed the one million mark in Pakistan since the beginning of the pandemic last year, with 1,425 new infections and 11 deaths reported in the last 24 hours.
Officials have reported that the spread of the delta variant is reaching alarming levels in the country's major cities, including Sindh's Karachi, where the test positivity rate has now reached over 18 percent — twice higher than the province's average.
“Chief minister of Sindh has decided to impose new restrictions from Monday due to the rise in cases,” Rasheed Channa, the chief minister's spokesperson, told Arab News.
Educational institutions, places of worship, will be closed. Shops will be allowed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., restaurants will be closed both for indoor and outdoor dining, and mass gatherings, including weddings, will be completely banned.
This week, there were reports of public and some private sector hospitals reaching capacity in Karachi and refusing patients. As 85 percent of coronavirus patients seeking treatment were unvaccinated, according to the province's COVID-19 taskforce, authorities are seeking new ways to accelerate the vaccination drive.
Murtaza Wahab, spokesperson of the Sindh government, told Arab News they had decided to request that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority block SIM cards in the cellphones of those in the province who had not received their jabs.
"Sindh government has decided to write to the National Command and Control Center and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority that mobile sims of unvaccinated people should be blocked,” Wahab said.
Around 5.21 million doses of different coronavirus vaccines have been administered so far in the province of 48 million.
