ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday warned people against the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, asking them to take necessary precautionary measures to keep the infectious disease under control.

"Our cases were going down, but they have started rising once again," he said in a short video message that was posted on social media. "We are concerned that the Indian variant [of the virus] can also come to Pakistan since it has been detected in Afghanistan and there are chances that people in this country can also contract it."

The prime minister said Pakistan was fortunate since it did not suffer like several other countries, adding that the government was also helped in this by its people who followed the prescribed standard operating procedures (SOPs) while in public.

"I know people are tired -- and that is also true for the rest of the world -- of abiding by the SOPs," he continued. "But if you simply wear a mask, we will be able to avoid the fourth wave [of the pandemic]."

Khan added if another COVID-19 wave emerged, the government would not be left with any option but to impose lockdowns again.

He maintained that such a scenario would negatively impact people's livelihood.

The prime minister also described the delta variant of the virus as "the biggest challenge," saying it had devastated much of the region.

He urged the people to get themselves vaccinated since it was the only way out of the pandemic.

Pakistan's National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), which is responsible for developing and coordinating the country's pandemic response, also expressed its concern over the non-implementation of officially prescribed health guidelines during a meeting on Wednesday.

The NCOC also requested people to take precautionary measures ahead of the Islamic festival of Eid Al-Adha and instructed "all federating units ... to devise stringent measures for the implementation of the Covid SOPs and [ensure] uninterrupted vaccination process."