Pakistan's COVID-19 positivity rate has increased to its highest level in more than 50 days, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said on Thursday, while urging people to take the standard operating procedures (SOPs) seriously to curb the spread of the virus.

Taking to Twitter, the Minister said: "National positivity of COVID-19 cases was 2.37 per cent yesterday (Wednesday). This is the highest positivity in more than 50 days. Last time this level was seen on August 23.

"First four days of this week COVID-19 deaths average is 11 per day... Highest since week of August 10th. Unmistakable signs of rise of corona."

In a separate tweet, Umar further said that COVID-19 positivity was extremely high in Muzaffarabad and Karachi, and also rising in Lahore and Islamabad.

"Time for all of us to take COVID-19 SOP's seriously again. Otherwise, unfortunately we may have to take restrictive actions which have negative effects on peoples livelihoods," he added.

Fears of a second COVID-19 wave have surfaced in Pakistan after certain parts of the country witnessed a spike in fresh cases in recent weeks, Dawn news reported.

Health officials have warned of cases rising in Punjab, especially Lahore, while Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has highlighted an increase in Karachi's positivity rate.

On Sunday, Umar had revealed that the country's COVID-19 positivity rate had risen above 2 per cent after a six-week average of less than, and urged people to cooperate with authorities in following precautionary measures.

Last week, restrictions were proposed on large-scale public gatherings and issued fresh guidelines for marriage halls after the country saw a rise in COVID-19 infections in recent weeks.

As of Thursday, Pakistan's overall COVID-19 case tally stood at 321,218, while the death toll increased to 6,614.
(IANS)