Islamabad, July 10 : Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan appealed to the nation to celebrate Eidul Azha later this month while strictly observing the standard operating procedures (SOPs) against the COVID019 pandemic in order to prevent any resurgence of the contagious disease. Speaking to the media here on Thursday, Khan said the curve of the pandemic was on a flattening trend in the country and any carelessness on Eid would lead to a fresh spike in COVID-19 cases, reports The Express Tribune. "I appeal to the people not to do again what they did on previous Eid. Any public gathering causes the spread of virus and puts pressure on hospitals, doctors and nurses, besides causing deaths," he said. Khan stressed that effective measures, taken by the provinces on the advice of the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), had "amazingly led to the flattening of coronavirus curve" even before the projected timeframe. He said the government had prepared new SOPs for Eidul Azha. Pakistan has so far reported 243,599 COVID-19 cases, with 5,058 deaths. /IANS