Islamabad , Mar 27 :Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Saturday called upon the political, social and religious leaders and media to join hands for controlling spread of third wave of COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is time to show leadership and we, as a nation, have to limit spread of the disease from reaching the level of damaging livelihood,” he said while keeping in view the rising threats of the pandemic. 

Addressing a media briefing here after chairing the meeting of National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), the minister said whenever Pakistanis stood united to fight against odds, they overcame everything.

He urged the political, social and religious leaders, and the media to join the government’s effort to contain the pandemic.

Asad Umar said a couple of weeks ago, the NCOC had foreseen the spread and took decisions to impose smart lockdown in various areas of the country.

After a week, he said, a review was taken again in which the NCOC found that the decisions were not being implemented which created problems to curtail spread of corona virus.

He pointed out that the major reason behind the rising trend of corona disease in the country was the British variants of the pandemic that had the ability to spread more rapidly and it was also more fatal.

He said the rising trend was not observed only in Pakistan but also in the whole region, adding,  in India, the number of corona virus positive cases had declined to below 10,000 in a day but now it had crossed 47,000 new cases daily.

Similarly in Bangladesh too, the number of daily COVID positive cases had increased four times.

He warned that the threat was increasing. “In the peak of first wave, more than 3300 COVID patients were in critical care in hospitals while in second wave the highest number of such patients in the hospitals was 2511.

However, in the third wave, as many as 2842 critical care patients were in the hospitals on Friday. Only in 12 days, the number has increased by 1000, he informed.

Asad Umar warned that if the ratio of COVID -19 patients continued with the same pace, within next few days it would may cross the highest level reported in the first wave.

He asked people to take care of themselves and their families as well as friends.

On the occasion, the chairman NCOC also conferred on Covid vaccine certificates to two healthcare workers after opening of online immunization certificate portal.