Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, in a letter to all the federating units, has urged them to "ensure employment of all administrative tools for across the board implementation of NCOC's (National Command and Operation Centre) instructions", especially those related to political and social gatherings.

"Violations of NCOC instructions, specifically in political and social gatherings have been observed. Apart from contributing to disease spread, these violations are obstructing effective enforcement of SOPs in other sectors too and sending wrong signals to the general public," Umar wrote in the letter.

He pointed out that all the federating units had "performed well" during the first and second waves of the pandemic but the enforcement of SOPs had "remained weak" during the third wave.

"I am sure that we will be able to thwart further spread of this contagion with concerted efforts," he added.