Pakistan has reported 42 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 623,135. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 13,799 on Saturday.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 3,876 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

Special Assistant on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan has said that the COVID positivity ratio has doubled from 4.5 percent to 9.5 percent in the last few days.

Briefing the media persons in Islamabad today (Saturday), he said this is an alarming situation which is increasing burden on our healthcare system.

Dr Faisal Sultan said the pressure is especially being seen on the health infrastructure in major cities of Punjab, Islamabad and Peshawar.

The Special Assistant said it is our collective responsibility to fully comply with the SOPs to cope with the challenge.

He advised the people to wear masks and ensure social distancing and the wedding events should also be organized in open air with the minimum possible guests.

Regarding vaccination, the Special Assistant said the process is continuing and people aged over seventy years can get vaccination shots without any appointment.

Asad Umar already urged citizens to follow the SOPs and warned that if those guidelines are not followed, the government will be left with no option but to place “stronger restriction on activities”.

Sharp spike in covid positivity. Hospital daily admissions & people in critical care rising fast. If sop compliance does not improve, we will be forced to place stronger restrictions on activities. Please be very very careful. The new strain spreads faster and is more deadly.

— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) March 18, 2021

He appealed to the citizens to be “very very careful” as the new strain, which is the main cause for the rise in cases, spreads “faster and is more deadly”.