Anyone, with no COVID-19 vaccination certificate, should not be allowed to travel by air after August 1. Pakistan’s top body overseeing the pandemic response recommended on Friday.
The guidance by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) would need the federal government’s approval.
Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar warned on Friday about clear signs of a 4th COVID-19 wave starting in Pakistan. He warned a fourth wave of the pandemic was beginning of the virus.
New guidelines ahead of the Eid-ul-Adha holiday later this month will be announced soon. Students over 18 should get the vaccine by August 31 as well, and booking hotels and travel for tourists inside the country would also now require proof of vaccination.
“Two weeks back I had tweeted that our artificial intelligence models are showing possible emergence of 4th wave,” Umar said on Twitter on Friday. “Now there are clear early signs of 4th wave starting.”
The NCOC has said the Delta, Beta, and Alpha variants of the virus is in Pakistan since May.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Imran Khan said new measures are important to fight the Delta variant. It was first identified in neighboring India.
“After a decline, cases are rising again and we are concerned that [the] Indian variant cases are being reported in Pakistan as well,” Khan said in a televised address to the nation. PM ruled out a strict nationwide lockdown. But asked the public to follow social distancing guidelines and wear masks.
COVID-19 in Pakistan
Pakistan reported 1,737 new cases on Thursday, with 25 new deaths. It reported a total of 969,476 cases. While, 22,520 people have died in the country so far, according to the NCOC.
COVID-19 is lethal and has taken the lives of more than 22500 Pakistanis so far. We need to be careful and continue following the SOPs as its new symptoms are difficult to detect.
So far, 14.7 million people in Pakistan have been partially vaccinated and 3.5 million fully vaccinated, according to the NCOC.
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