ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s health ministry, the UN agency for Children (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have jointly called on the Pakistani public to follow coronavirus standard operating procedures and strictly enforce key preventive behaviours to keep infections down during the upcoming Eid Al-Adha festival.
Authorities in Pakistan fear a spike in coronavirus cases during over the Eid holiday if people didn’t adhere to protective measures.
As of Wednesday the country had reported 276,287 cases and 5,892 deaths.
In an online event called the National Campaign to Reinforce Adherence to the COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs), Special Assistant to the Pakistani Prime Minister on Health, Dr. Zafar Mirza, urged the public to follow preventive behaviors during the upcoming Eid Al-Adha holiday to avoid a repetition of the spike in coronavirus transmission which followed the Eid Al-Fitr festival in May.
“We are at a critical juncture of the current pandemic, witnessing a significant decrease in the number of cases, and no way can afford slackness or complacence, as was observed during Eidul-Fitr days,” Mirza said.
He said the COVID-19 outbreak had not only impacted people’s lives and health across the country but also adversely impacted the delivery of essential public services including heath, nutrition, education, water and sanitation.
“It is crucial that we all implement the few behaviours that are key to save lives and prevent the spread of the virus among our families and communities,” Aida Girma, the UNICEF representative in Pakistan, said.
Muslims in Pakistan usually crowd mosques and prayer grounds across the country to offer prayers and sacrifice goats and cows for the Eid Al-Adha holiday, marking the second major religious festival of Islam.
But this year, the holiday will be bittersweet and marred by the coronavirus pandemic. Already, Pakistan announced earlier this month it was banning open-air livestock markets in cities for the upcoming Eid to contain the spread of the disease. People have only been allowed to buy and sell sacrificial animals at 700 designated markets, which have been set up on the outskirts of cities across the country.
