Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Wednesday warned that government may be forced to tighten coronavirus related restrictions if SOPs are not taken seriously.

Talking to media persons, Asad Umar reiterated that coronavirus situation is very serious in the country but neither the people are taking the virus seriously nor precautionary measures are being followed.

He further said that the virus is spreading rapidly in major cities as about 600 patients are visiting hospitals daily in the federal capital while spread of the virus has also accelerated in the Sindh.

The minister said that rising number of cases is putting pressure on health care system as ventilator occupancy in several cities has reached 80 percent while number of patients who are on oxygen has crossed 4000 in the country.

Asad Umar, while hinting at lockdown in major cities, said that government is not closing metropolitans for now but it could go for complete lockdown if official guidelines are not followed by public in the coming days.