-Vaccines to be administered in 3 phases
-KP Civil, military leaders review COVID situation
-Fresh restrictions placed across country
By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said on Tuesday the countrywide positivity ratio of Covid-19 cases jumped to 8.58 per cent in the past 24 hours.
Karachi recorded the highest positivity ratio at 21.8pc followed by Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Mirpur 18.31pc, Muzaffarabad 16pc, Peshawar 14.91pc, Abbottabad 13.35pc, Hyderabad 9.15pc, Rawalpindi 8.51pc, Lahore 5.98pc, Islamabad 4.88pc, Quetta 4.81pc, Swat 4.04pc, Faisalabad 3.73 and Multan 2.38.
Sindh recorded the highest Covid-19 positivity ratio which was 13.87pc, followed by Azad Kashmir 9.77pc, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 9.67pc, Balochistan 8.68, and Gilgit Baltistan 2.87pc.
2,486 of the total Covid-19 patients under treatment across the country are said to be in critical condition, out of whom 305 are on vents, including 86 in Lahore, 42 in Multan, 15 in Rawalpindi, 76 in Karachi, 37 in Islamabad and 45 in Peshawar.
Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan have no patient on ventilators, while Muzaffarabad has one patient on a vent. According to the official data released by NCOC on Tuesday showed, Pakistan’s coronavirus death toll rose by 89 in 24 hours for the first time in five months as the country struggles to contain the second wave of COVID-19 infections.
Meanwhile Tuesday, the federal government finalized the plan for initiating COVID-19 vaccination drive in three phases which is likely to be commenced from March 2021. The coronavirus vaccination drive will be run in three phases across the country from March 2021.
In the first phase, 10 million people will be administered COVID-19 vaccines including 0.5 million frontline essential health workers and 9.5 million population over 65 years of age.
In the second phase, all health workers and population over 65 years of age will be administered the vaccines. A defined proportion of the remaining population will be given COVID-19 vaccines in the third phase of the forthcoming drive. The continuation of the drive will be made on the quantity of the available COVID-19 vaccines during the third phase.
Earlier on Monday, it emerged that a special cabinet committee, headed by Federal Minister Asad Umar, had been constituted for procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine. The five-member committee of the federal cabinet includes Fawad Chaudhry, Hammad Azhar, Sania Nishtar and Dr Faisal Sultan as other four members. The special cabinet committee will function as an oversight body for procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The committee’s decision will be final and it won’t require an endorsement from the federal cabinet. The objective of formation of a special committee is to ensure transparency in procurement of the vaccine. The health ministry had finalised a comprehensive strategy for administering of the expected COVID-19 vaccine across the country. The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had approved the ‘Vaccine Administration Plan’, the comprehensive strategy prepared by the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) of the health ministry.
Late Tuesday, a meeting of Provincial Task Force on COVID-19 was held at Corps HQ Peshawar. CM KP Mahmood khan, Commander Peshawar Corps Lieutenant General Nauman Mahmood and other senior civil and military officials attended the meeting. Forum was apprised about review of COVID 19 situation in KP and actions being taken to implement corona-virus SOPs. Forum was also apprised about current capacity of hospitals for COVID patients and measures being taken to enhance further.
Steps for Implementation of Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) in light of NCOC directions were discussed in detail. CM KP Mahmood Khan, expressed satisfaction on the progress made so far to prevent spread of corona-virus in the province.
Restrictions: With the COVID-19 pandemic progressively getting worse in Pakistan, the government has placed fresh restrictions across the country to prevent the spread of the virus during its second wave.
Following recommendations by the NCOC, the federal government has made face masks mandatory in public spaces, limited large public gatherings to 300, banned indoor weddings, closed shrines, cinemas, and theatres, and instructed public and private offices to adopt work-from-home policy and 50% occupancy.
The federal government also announced that educational institutes will remain closed from November 26 to January 10. The students will study at home or get weekly homework till December 24 and winter vacations will start December 25. The schools will reopen on January 11 – which is subject to coronavirus situation then. All examinations have been postponed except admission and recruitment tests. Furthermore, all provinces have banned indoor dining and limited timings for markets, shops, and shopping malls. Many areas in the country have been placed under smart lockdowns.
