ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has convened a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on COVID-19 today, Friday, a state-run news agency reported, to devise government policy to tackle rising coronavirus cases in the country, with 5,870 people testing positive and 144 dying in the last 24 hours.
On Thursday, the Prime Minister Office announced the meeting after Khan received an evening briefing from Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan.
According to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, the NCC would also discuss if more countries should be added in the list of category-C bans on travel.
Dr. Sultan told Dawn after his meeting with the prime minister that the main agenda of the NCC meeting was to take up the issue of the non-implementation of SOPs (standard operating procedures) across the country’s provinces and urge provincial governments to strictly impose health guidelines.
However, he said no new lockdowns or restrictions would be imposed without “consensus” between the provinces.
Data from the National Command and Operation Center — the government of Pakistan’s central body to oversee the fight against the coronavirus pandemic — showed on Thursday at least four Pakistani cities where ventilator occupancy rates had crossed 80% as a third wave of COVID-19 sweeps through the country.
Providing figures for highest ventilator occupancy rates, the NCOC said: “Mardan 100%, Gujranwala 88%, Multan 85%, Lahore 82%.”
On Wednesday, planning minister Umar warned the government would impose stricter restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, including completely shutting down major cities, after an alarming increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths in the country’s major centers.
