Wearing facial masks in public places is mandatory now: Mirza

Special Assistant to PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said on Saturday that wearing masks in public places has been declared mandatory now as the coronavirus cases are mounting day by day.

The SAPM was addressing a press conference, where he said that surgical and cloth masks can be used while travelling in trains, public transport or going to mosques, bazaars, and shops.

Mirza said that in the past 24 hours, 78 deaths occurred while four health workers also died of the virus.

“So far we have conducted 532,000 tests,” said the SAPM, continuing that in the past day 12,020 tests were done, out of which 2,429 came positive.

He added that the local transmission ratio of the virus has reached 92%, while the percentage of recovery cases is 36%.

The minister cautioned that there is a dire need to follow the SOPs and guidelines to curb the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, he urged people not to spread wrong information on social media, particularly regarding hospitals.

“Our healthcare assets have not been engaged more than 25%,” he said.

SAPM on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf said that so far around 33,000 Pakistanis have been repatriated from 55 countries via repatriation flights.

The SAPM said that the focus is more on United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia due to the presence of Pakistani workers in these countries.

He said that 20,000 stranded nationals will be repatriated from June 1 to 10, adding that a new policy for overseas Pakistanis will be introduced soon.