Coronavirus violations blamed for Pakistan death rise

A resident walks past a closed restaurant after been sealed by authorities for violating COVID-19 prevention guidelines in Karachi on Oct. 2, 2020. (AFP)

• Pakistan’s big cities could face a second wave of COVID-19 in the coming weeks because of increasing pollution in winter

ISLAMABAD: A Cabinet minister says Pakistan has witnessed a 140 percent increase in fatalities from COVID-19 in recent weeks due to widespread violations of social distancing rules.
Asad Umar, the planning and development minister who oversees Pakistan’s response to coronavirus, warned on Twitter “We will lose both lives and livelihoods” if people did not adhere to social distancing rules.
His comments Tuesday came shortly after the military-backed Command and Operations Center reported 14 deaths and 625 new cases in the past 24 hours.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had warned on Monday that Pakistan’s big cities could face a second wave of COVID-19 in the coming weeks because of increasing pollution in winter. Pakistan has reported 324,084 cases, including 6,673 COVID-19 deaths.