Amid the third wave of coronavirus in Pakistan and record positive cases, National Command and Operation Centre has decided to suspend inter-provincial transport on weekends with effect from 10th April. “In a session held at the NCOC, it was decided to ban inter-provincial transport for two days a week (Saturday and Sunday) with effect from April 10 to April 25. However goods, freight, medical and other emergency services will be exempted,” said the official statement. NCOC will further review the situation on April 20 and decide if the ban should be lifted or extended depending on the situation. According to the NCOC figures, 5,020 cases and 81 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours. The data also showed that number of active cases has surged to 60,072 as of April 4 when 4,288 of them were under treatment at hospitals. This is the highest number of active cases in the country since July 16, 2020 when 70,787 active cases had been reported. NCOC chief Asad Umar earlier tweeted that there were 3,568 patients in critical care. He stated that this is the highest number since the start of COVID. Umar stressed on the enforcement of SOPs and asked the masses to take necessary precautions and cooperate with the administrations. Yesterday there were 3468 covid patients on critical care in Pakistan yesterday. This is the highest number since covid started. The need for strong enforcement of sop's is vital. Please take precautions and cooperate with administration in their enforcement efforts — Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) April 4, 2021