Women shop at a market in Islamabad. File

Pakistan ramped up measures to control the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, with focus on strict adherence to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and avoiding any return of lockdown in order to protect the people’s livelihood.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, who chaired the National Coordination Committer (NCC) on COVID-19, emphasised that the country could not afford the closure of business in the country.

Addressing the media, Imran 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.

Later the NCC 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.

According to the NCOC, Pakistan reported a total of 1,313 new cases of COVID- over the last twenty-four hours after the tests of 26,565 people.

According to the latest statistics, the virus claimed lives of eighteen more people during the last twenty-four hours.

The figure of patients recovered from the virus has reached 316,060. There are now 14,646 active cases in the country.

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