ISLAMABAD: Federal minister for Planning and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar, on Thursday said long time closing down of big cities is not the solution to COVID-19 pandemic as any such action will have negative impact on already fragile economy besides adding to the people’s woes.
Asad Umer came- up with these comments during a National Control and Operation Centre (NCOC) briefing here. He was flanked by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health, Dr Faisal Sultan.
Sindh is witnessing sharp increase in its infected number of COVID-19 and its authorities had hinted at long term lockdown in the province recently. Sindh Information minister, Nasir Shah, had said the other day that the provincial government is considering to consult trading community before taking any decision on closing down of the cities to protect the people from new Delta variant. Sindh is in worst grip of the pandemic where infection rate has gone alarmingly high with over 26 percent and its on the rise with each passing day.
Asad Umar briefed the media after an NCOC meeting on Thrusday that Pakistan had realized at an early stage that complete lock down in the country was not a durable and wise decision and rather it opted for smart lockdown strategy. He said Pakistan’s approach to tackle COVID-19 pandemic has worked well in the last three phases and for now it may go for the same strategy. He said the lower middle class including the workers, daily wager and labourers paid price for complete lockdown and it compelled the government to go for alternative options like hotspot lockdown and smart lockdown.
He said “ Pakistan tried and tested strategy based on data and experience needed to be followed . Closing down of entire cities for weeks is not a solution”.
The minister said following the Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) and enforcing lockdown in hotspots areas was the only way forward to tackle the spread of the deadly virus.
He said the Sindh government was following the right strategy to tackle the situation and monitoring the cases actively.
Sharing the statistics, the minister said currently Islamabad SoPs compliance was 56,4 percent, 46.4 percent in KPK, 42.7 percent in Azad Jammu Kashmir, 37.4 Gilgit Baltistan, 38 percent in Punjab.
He deplored that some people are still not taking the Corona virus seriously and the same approach was the cause of rise in the cases in the country.
Deadline of August 31 for Students and LEAs for vaccination
The minister told the press conference that NCOC has decided to set August 31, 2021 deadline for students falling in 18 and above age group, Law Enforcing Agencies (LEAs), the workers of hotels and restaurants, transport sector and public sector for vaccination. He said these groups will not be allowed to enter into the premises where they work or study without vaccination after August 31, this year.
Meanwhile, the teachers have been directed to get vaccinated by August 1, 2021 to resume their teaching duty at educational institutions.
Number of cases, fatalities on the rise
Pakistan is witnessing sharp increase in COVID-19 cases. According to NCOC statistics. Pakistan had 76 new cases during the last 24 hours. Total number of death reported by NCOC from Corona virus as of July 29, 2021 cross 23 thousand mark.