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Pakistan rules out complete lockdown amid spike in Covid cases

Islamabad - NCC has decided to continue the smart lockdown policy.

Despite a continued spike in the number of new Covid-19 cases, Pakistan's National Coordination Committee (NCC) has ruled out imposing a complete lockdown in the country to stem the virus spread.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the NCC on Tuesday presided by Prime Minister Imran Khan, reports Dawn news.

The NCC also endorsed all the measures announced late last month by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), which included strict implementation of the standard operating procedures (SOP) at public places and reduction in timings for markets and commercial activities.

It also decided to continue the smart lockdown policy.

Addressing the media here on Tuesday, Khan said: "We have decided that we will not close down businesses and industries. In case of the rise in coronavirus cases, we will close only those things which do not damage the industries.

"Otherwise, we will run the businesses and industries, but with SOPs."

He also appealed to the public to wear face masks to avoid spread of the pandemic.

According to the NCOC, Pakistan reported a total of 1,167 new coronavirus cases and 14 deaths in the last 24 hours, Dawn news reported.

With the latest tallies, the country's overall caseload and death toll stood at 337,029 and 6,857, respectively.

Most of the new cases were reported in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Hyderabad, Gilgit, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Peshawar and Quetta.