pakistan 
Pakistan is considering more onerous restrictions to hold the spread of coronavirus.
Pakistan’s COVID-19 watchdog, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), has summoned a meeting of provincial education ministers today to decide the fate of schools amid a surge in the total case count. The NCOC will suggest precautionary measures at educational institutes.
In the last 24 hours, Pakistan reported 5,034 new COVID-19 cases.
The country’s positivity rate has reached 9.45 percent, as per media reports.
Expressing concerns over the worsening coronavirus situation in the country, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has warned that the next three weeks could be critical.
The PMA urged the government to lock abrupt actions as Karachi’s COVID-19 positivity rate surged 40%. It is pertinent to state that this number only shows registered coronavirus cases. “The number of unregistered cases is way higher than estimates,” the PMA said.
The Association feared that the Omicron variant might change its form and suggested the provincial governments impose a complete ban on gatherings of all sorts.
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“Strict punishments should be slapped on those found involved in flouting COVID-19 SOPs,” the PMA added.
Moreover, the Medical Association said vaccination cards should be mandatory for entering hotels, shopping malls, and restaurants.
Meanwhile, local health authorities announced Monday the completion of a successful Chinese traditional herbal medicine trial for curing COVID-19.
Jinhua Qinggan Granules manufactured by Juxiechang Pharmaceutical Co Ltd is already being used for treating COVID-19 patients in China.
“It was tried on patients with diverse variants of COVID-19. We hope that it will be effective on Omicron as well,” the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Science said. Pakistan’s positivity ratio has surged to the highest point since May 8, 2021. Pakistan also registered ten more deaths, taking the death toll to 29,029. The overall cases have reached 1.33 million.
