ISLAMABAD: Expressing concern over a recent spike in Covid-19 deaths, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday the second wave of the coronavirus is proving to be deadlier than the first one.

Chairing a meeting of the federal cabinet, Prime Minister Khan issued directives for the authorities concerned to ensure strict enforcement of the government-defined SOPs to halt the spread of the deadly disease.

Continuing his tirade against opposition parties, he said they are spreading the coronavirus by holding rallies. They are resorting to public meetings in order to hide their corruption, the prime minister maintained.

The cabinet, among other issues, discussed the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) judgement regarding the special assistant and advisers to the premier. PM Khan directed his legal team to look into the legal aspects of the ruling.

In pursuance of the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) directives, the cabinet took up a plea seeking to cut ties with France over French President Emmanuel Macron’s Islamophobic remarks and republication of blasphemous caricatures.

The premier tasked Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to raise the issue with Muslim countries.

An IHC single bench comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had called for the case to be sent to Prime Minister Imran Khan for placing it before his cabinet for necessary action. NNI