ISLAMABAD, Apr 19 (APP): Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Monday said due to non-compliance of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) set to control spread of COVID-19, the situation in the country was getting worse.

In his tweet, he said oxygen supply capacity in the country was now under stress and the SOPs’ compliance remained low. “We are making a huge mistake by not following SOP’s,” he warned.

He said the number of COVID patients in the hospitals was growing quickly and the critical care patients were now above 4500, which was 30 percent higher than peak in June last year.

The minister who is also Chairman National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said global COVID cases were exceeding 750,000 per day and deaths were more than 13,000.

“We are seeing some of the worst numbers since COVID started. Our neighborhood is in severe crises,” he said adding the daily deaths in Iran were more than 300 and in India, more than 1600 people were dying of the pandemic. He stressed the need for adopting safety precautions more than ever.