-NCOC mulls over deferring cinemas, indoor dinning & weddings’ opening amid Coronavirus resurgence
By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: The national tally on Monday of total active COVID-19 cases recorded 18,415 with 1,592 more people tested positive for the deadly virus and 1,038 people recovered from the disease during the last 24 hours.
Twenty-two corona patients have died during past 24 hours, who were under treatment in hospital, according to the latest update issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
During the last 24 hours most of the deaths had occurred in the Punjab followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The maximum ventilators were occupied in four major areas including Multan 17 percent, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 30 percent, Peshawar 20 percent and Lahore 36 percent.
The maximum Oxygen beds (alternate oxygen providing facility other than ventilator administered as per medical requirement of COVID patient) was also occupied in four major areas of Gujrat 94 percent, Peshawar 38 percent, ICT 31 percent and Multan 29 percent.
Around 211 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in the country while no COVID-19 affected person was on ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and Balochistan.
Some 34,347 tests were conducted across the country on Sunday, including 7,813 in Sindh, 14,677 in Punjab, 6,141 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 4,578 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 267 in Balochistan, 263 in GB, and 608 in AJK.
Around 560,458 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio of the affected patients. Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 592,100 cases were detected that also included the perished, recovered and under treatment COVID-19 patients so far, including AJK 10,579, Balochistan 19,117, GB 4,959, ICT 45,740, KP 74,027, Punjab 177,823 and Sindh 259,855.
About 13,227 deaths were recorded in country since the eruption of the contagion. Around 4,426 perished in Sindh among two of them died in the hospital during past 24 hours.
5,565 in Punjab had died with 13 deaths occured in the hospital in past 24 hours. 2,113 in KP where four of them died in hospital on Sunday, 509 in ICT among one of them died in the hospital on Sunday, 201 in Balochistan, 102 in GB and 311 in AJK among two of them succumbed to the deadly virus in the hospital on Sunday.
A total of 9,246,827 corona tests have been conducted so far, while 631 hospitals are equipped with COVID facilities. Some 2,071 corona patients were admitted in hospitals across the country.
Meanwhile in the day the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on Monday mulled over deferring the opening up of Cinemas, indoor weddings and dinning in the restaurants, which were expected to be allowed with effect from March 15, amid rising positivity trend of the Coronavirus with the next review to be held in the first week of April.
The NCOC meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar flanked by National Coordinator Lieutenant General Hamood Uz Zaman Khan discussed update from the provinces on rising positivity and corresponding actions, vaccination progress and national vaccine strategy where the provincial representatives participated the meeting through video link.
The Forum reviewed the rising positivity trend prevailing across the country and expressed its concerns over public complacency in following non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs or alternate measure to treat the disease other than medical treatment).
The Forum directed the provincial administrations to ensure strict enforcement of NPIs at the grass roots level to contain the disease spread as slackness in adhering to safety guidelines would trigger the contagion outbreak.
The Forum also decided to revisit school opening modalities in the prevailing rising trend of positivity in its next morning session.
