Federal minister Asad Umar reiterated fears expressed on Thursday about a fourth wave in a series of tweets issued Friday morning. He said poor compliance of SOPs coupled with the spread of variants of coronavirus were especially concerning.

He also warned businesses not checking vaccination certificates of customers/guests with serious consequences if they do not follow SOPs.

The government eased restrictions two weeks ago despite many analysts expressing concerns that this could cause a spike in infections.

Earlier on Thursday head of NCOC Umar expressed fears of a fourth wave of coronavirus in July but rejected any chance of a complete lockdown.

Umar was speaking at the oath taking ceremony of the newly appointed members of the National Youth Council in Islamabad.

Umar said the government may impose smart lockdowns in parts of the country where the cases are high. The government has adopted this strategy of smart lockdowns as the prime minister has been against complete lockdowns because it will impact the poor the most.

Umar said this strategy has proven effective in stemming the spread of the virus in the past. He also said Pakistan has received international praise for this approach, citing the country's inclusion in The Economist's Normalcy Index as an example. The index determines which countries are returning to pre-pandemic levels of normalcy. Pakistan ranked third.

The prime minister too warned about a fourth wave and urged people to wear masks and get vaccinated. He was especially concerned about the Delta variant appearing from India.

Covid Stats:

Pakistan has reported 737 new coronavirus cases and 25 deaths in the last 24 hours. The infection rate in the country has increased to 3.65%.

NCOC released its figures on Friday morning on Twitter.