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Spike in Pakistan COVID-19 Infections Prompts WHO to Call for More Lockdowns

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - Scores of lawmakers and government officials in Pakistan
   have tested positive for the coronavirus over the last week as the
   national tally of infections surged Wednesday to about 114,000.

   The South Asian nation of 220 million people recorded the highest
   number of confirmed COVID-19 cases Wednesday since the outbreak hit
   Pakistan in late February.

   Several members of national and provincial legislatures are among
   nearly 2,300 Pakistanis who died after contracting the virus. The
   speaker of the National Assembly barred members from attending house
   sessions unless they are tested for the virus.

   COVID-19 infections have particularly soared since late last month when
   the government relaxed nationwide restrictions on commercial and public
   activities. Hospitals, particularly in major Pakistani cities, have
   warned over the past several days they are running out of space, and
   some even turned away new patients.

   WHO skeptical of response

   The escalation in the COVID-19 outbreak prompted the World Health
   Organization (WHO) this week to urge Pakistan to impose a new round of
   public lockdown restrictions to curb the spread of the disease.

   Palitha Mahipala, the WHO's country chief, wrote a letter to health
   authorities in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province, suggesting
   intermittent lockdowns of "two weeks on, two weeks off" to combat the
   virus.

   The strategy, Mahipala said, would keep economic activity going in the
   country. He also recommended Pakistani officials double their testing
   capacity to 50,000. "As of today, Pakistan does not meet any of the
   prerequisite conditions for opening the lockdown," said Mahipala.

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