Pakistan says it is following a “holistic” strategy when it comes to battling coronavirus in response to the WHO’s recommended that it reimpose a strict, intermittent lockdown.
The comments from the country’s top medical expert, Dr Zafar Mirza, came on Wednesday – a day after Pakistan recorded its highest daily spike with more than 5,300 new infections. Total cases have crossed 113,000 with the death toll at 2,255.
“We have to make tough policy choices to strike a balance between lives and livelihoods,†Mirza added.
Earlier, the WHO said that Pakistan did not meet any of its six criteria for easing a lockdown, which the country did in May. Prime Minister Imran Khan had removed restrictions at various points throughout May, but eased most of them at the end of the month, saying Pakistan would have to “live with the virus” as the lockdown was devastating its economy.
The global body also urged Pakistan to increase daily testing to at least more than 50,000 a day. It is currently testing around half of this figure – 23,799 people were tested on Tuesday, Al Jazeera reported, quoting government data.
Source:Â bbc.com