Punjab govt mulls extension in corona lockdown by another week

The Punjab government is mulling to extend the complete lockdown in the province after a sharp decline in the number of coronavirus deaths and infections due to the strict implementation of the SOPs during the Eid lockdown, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday.

The Home and Health Departments have proposed to the provincial government to extend the complete lockdown by another week i.e. from May 17 to onwards which would definitely contribute to stemming the coronavirus cases.

See Also: Strict social curbs bring coronavirus cases, positivity ratio down

Sunday is the last day of the nine-day lockdown imposed by the Punjab government earlier.

The provincial government will make the final decision in consultation with the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

So far, Punjab has recorded a total of 324,589 cases 9,322 deaths.

According to the latest NCOC data released on Saturday morning, 83 more people lost their battle of lives against Covid-19 across the country. As many as 1,531 new cases of Covid-19 emerged during the last 24 hours (Friday).

See Also: Pandemic to be 'far more deadly' this year, WHO warns

The positivity ratio also plummeted to 5.06% as 588 ventilator-fitted beds have been occupied by the corona patients. 

The National Command and Operation Centre-directed strict Eid-specific Covid-19 social curbs have paid the dividend as the positivity rate declined to 5.06% from the double-digit figure observed during last week. 

Reporter Qazafi Butt