-Punjab, Sindh, KP impose restriction in hotspot areas
-COVID-19 close to 157,738 as 58,437 recover from infection
By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday observed that over a million people were restricted under a “smart lockdown” across Pakistan after the government’s trace, test and quarantine (TTQ) strategy was implemented.
The strategy makes use of technology to highlight high risk areas reporting large numbers of coronavirus cases.
The meeting, chaired by the Minister for Planning, Development Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar in Islamabad, discussed the arrangements regarding the coming festival of Eid-ul-Azha.
The committee also reviewed a plan to ramp up testing capacity, the media’s communication strategy and the epidemic curve chart with projections for the next six weeks.
According to a province-wise breakdown, there are 904 areas under lockdown in Punjab with a population of over 900,000, 26 areas in Sindh with a population of 50,513, 572 areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a population of 67,000, 29 areas in Azad Jammu and Kashmir with a population of 670,000, 10 areas in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) with a population of 60,000 and five areas in Gilgit Baltistan (GB) with a population of 15,000 people.
In accordance with the prime minister’s instructions for compliance to health guidelines, particularly at work places, industrial sector, transport, markets and shops, NCOC mapped out strategies to ensure the implementation of the protocols as per the directives issued by World Health Organisation (WHO).
The forum was told that during the last 24 hours, more than 9,827 violations of health guidelines were observed across the country, whereas more than 963 markets and shops, 18 industries and 1,186 transport vehicles were cautioned, fined, sensitised and sealed.
Presenting an area-wise breakdown, the forum was apprised that in AJK, 804 violations were reported, around 93 shops and markets were sealed and about 333 transport vehicles were fined.
In GB, around 170 violations were reported, whereas 27 markets and shops were sealed and 29 transport vehicles were fined. In KP, around 5,420 violations were noticed, whereas 157 shops and markets were sealed, and 102 transport vehicles fined for violating standard operating procedures. In Punjab, 2,448 violations of safety guidelines were witnessed in different parts of the province and consequently, 523 shops and markets were closed, 13 industries sealed and 703 transport vehicles fined.
In Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), as many as 85 violations of SOPs and safety guidelines were noted and thus, 64 shops and 10 transport vehicles were fined. In Sindh, around 900 violations of SOPs and health guidelines were noted, whereas 72 markets and shops were sealed along with five industries and nine transport vehicles fined. Pakistan has began to impose smart lockdown in coronavirus hotspots in a bid to avoid economic losses as infections continue to surge in the country.
Dr Umar Saif, CEO Surveyauto.com and Chief Digital Officer Jang/Geo Media Group was asked by the government to use his start-up’s technological prowess to create a system whereby the strategy can be executed.Surveyauto.com came up with a system that can pinpoint hotspots of the coronavirus disease, enabling the government to only seal selective areas rather than locking down the whole country, which would otherwise severely hamper economic activity. How the system works is simple: Data obtained from the government’s field workers, who use smartphones to record them, is used to generate sophisticated mathematical and epidemiological analysis.
Spatial analysis of the outbreak is done by using Artificial Intelligence on satellite imagery, which generates population maps, house counts, case incidence rates and forecasts using SEIR prediction models.
These models, in turn, use this analysis to issue real-time alerts based on clusters of patients which show signs of developing into a wider outbreak; generates patient forecasts for each hotspot; maps anticipated patients to capacity in hospitals, and mandates the field teams to report containment activities from the field. The Prime Minister’s focal person for COVID-19, Dr. Faisal Sultan, appreciated Dr Umar Saif’s contribution towards the crucial strategy, saying:
“Grateful to Umar Saif and his startup SurveyAuto for providing the platform for hotspot-based selective lockdowns in Pakistan. It is based on sophisticated mathematical & epidemiological models to pinpoint hotspots, and enables the govt to monitor containment activities in real-time.”
