LAHORE: A senior health official in Pakistan’s Punjab province said on Sunday there had been a “significant decline” in coronavirus cases across the province, local media reported.
Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, reported one death and 57 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, according to official figures.
“Special standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been issued for various sectors to bring about a further decrease in the virus cases,” the Express Tribune newspaper quoted Punjab health care secretary Imran Sikandar Baloch as saying.
The official also urged the general public to “maintain social distancing, wear masks and contact 1033 helpline for any guidance or complaints.”
Pakistan recorded two more fatalities and 358 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, according to official data.
The South Asian nation also continues to report cases of the omicron variant. The strain was first detected in South Africa last month and within a few weeks of its discovery has spread across nearly 90 countries in the world.
On Saturday, Pakistan’s federal capital reported its first case of the new strain, a senior official announced, saying the patient had traveled to Islamabad from Karachi.
Pakistan reported its first omicron case in Karachi on December 13, though many other people were suspected to have contracted the variant in other parts of the country, including Balochistan.
Last week, Pakistani Planning Minister Asad Umar requested eligible Pakistani nationals to get themselves vaccinated after the emergence of omicron cases in the country. He said the spread of the new variant across the world had made it “even more urgent” to increase the pace of Pakistan’s vaccination campaign.
So far, 92,086,806 people have received their first dose of anti-COVID vaccines in Pakistan, while 65,149,948 have been fully inoculated, official data shows.
COVID-19 cases declining across Pakistan’s Punjab province — health official
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COVID-19 cases declining across Pakistan’s Punjab province — health official
- Health secretary says special directives issued to bring about “further decrease” in cases
- Pakistan continues to report new cases of omicron variant, first one identified in capital on Saturday
Pakistan finance chief says country leveraging AI to boost tax compliance, revenu
- Aurangzeb says AI-driven systems are cutting leakages, discretionary intervention in tax administration
- He tells a national workshop the government must focus on applied AI, not technology for its own sake
KARACHI: Pakistan is deploying artificial intelligence-driven systems to strengthen tax compliance and enforcement as part of a broader reform push, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday, adding the country must focus on applied AI solutions.
He was speaking during a panel discussion at the National Artificial Intelligence Workshop in the capital, as Pakistan undertakes sweeping fiscal and structural reforms under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund loan program aimed at stabilizing the economy and boosting revenue collection.
The government has pledged to widen the tax base, curb leakages and digitize administration, with technology playing a central role in its tax transformation agenda.
“AI-enabled systems are playing an increasingly important role in strengthening compliance, enforcement, and decision-making,” Aurangzeb said, according to a statement released by the finance division.
“The Government’s ongoing tax transformation, anchored in reforms to people, processes, and technology, is leveraging AI-led CRM [Customer Relationship Management] systems, AI-led production monitoring, risk-based compliance tools, and faceless customer processes to enhance transparency, reduce leakages, and improve revenue outcomes,” he added.
The finance minister said the focus for a country like Pakistan must remain on applied AI solutions that deliver measurable gains in efficiency, transparency and productivity, rather than on adopting technology for its own sake.
Reducing discretionary human intervention through technology was central to curbing inefficiencies and corruption, he said, adding that AI-led systems had generated tangible fiscal gains that would not have been achievable through manual processes alone.
Aurangzeb said investing in human capital and skills development was essential to enable Pakistan’s youth to participate in higher-value segments of the global technology ecosystem, noting that technologies such as blockchain and data analytics could support productivity-led growth.
He maintained artificial intelligence offered opportunities in revenue mobilization, public service delivery and climate and population management, adding that realizing those gains would require clear policy direction, institutional readiness and a coordinated, whole-of-government approach.
