ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s central pandemic response body held a meeting on Monday to discuss the epidemic curve, national vaccination strategy and disease prevalence across the country, though it postponed the decision of shutting down schools amid rising coronavirus infections in the absence of data on the positivity rate of various education institutions.
Prior to the meeting, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) reported over 4,000 new COVID-19 cases for a third consecutive day. According to official statistics, 4,340 people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the positivity ratio to 8.71 percent in the country.
The NCOC meeting was chaired by Pakistan’s planning minister Asad Umar.
The country’s health chief and provincial health and education ministers also attended the session online.
“Decision about education institutions will be taken on data of positive cases of various institutions for which massive testing in education institutions is being carried out,” it said in an official statement.
The participants of the meeting discussed non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and officially prescribed precautionary measures against COVID-19. They also discussed “global and regional trends of Omicron Virus,” the statement added.
“Keeping in view new disease prevalence, fresh set of NPIs was presented and discussed,” it continued, adding these NPIs would be “implemented by provinces in the next 48 hours after consultative process with all stakeholders.”
The fifth wave of COVID-19 infections is primarily driven by the highly transmissible omicron strain, which emerged in South Africa in November last year and rapidly spread to other parts of the world.
In its meeting on Saturday, the NCOC discussed the disease prevalence and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in the wake of rising infections in the country, especially in urban centers, the state-run APP news agency reported.
“It reviewed the existing NPIs and called on provincial health and education ministers session on 17 January [20]22 to suggest the new set of NPIs focusing on education sector, public gatherings, marriage ceremonies, indoor/outdoor dining and transport sector,” the report read.
The NCOC decided to engage with provinces, especially Sindh, to take necessary measures to stem the spread of coronavirus.
It ordered a complete ban on inflight serving of meals and snacks from Monday. Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has been tasked to ensure people follow all coronavirus-related standard operating procedures (SOPs) at airports and on flights.
The NCOC called upon provincial governments to take stern action against violators of coronavirus SOPs and ensure the enforcement of the obligatory vaccination regime.
The pandemic response body also asked provinces to carry out immediate surveys of health care facilities, fast-track vaccination drive and ramp up efforts to achieve targets.