Staff Report
Karachi: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has demanded that the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) impose tighter restrictions to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus, adding that the provincial government would take its own steps to do so if necessary. “I reminded him (Prime Minister Imran) that one year ago, the Sindh government had taken the initiative for which we had to listen to a lot [of criticism]. If it was such a bad idea, why did the other three provinces and Centre follow it?” he asked during the inauguration ceremony of the Institute of Animal Health in Korangi, Karachi. The provincial minister pointed out that while Pakistan was “saved” from a Covid-19 wave as bad as India’s wave last year as it had restricted domestic travel through airplanes and trains.
In this regard, Shah demanded the NCOC impose a two-week ban on inter-city transport, otherwise “we will take decisions ourselves”. Shah pointed out that India had not imposed a curfew in time and had told everyone to return to their home villages, and as a result, the people “infected each other and their villages”.
However, Pakistan was saved from a similar situation because it shut down domestic travel, he maintained. The chief minister said he gave the same recommendation to the NCOC this time as well, clarifying that his suggestion was not rejected.
“The NCOC said it will consider it.” He also stated that the vaccination campaign needs to be made more aggressive, as Pakistan ” is among the bottom-most in terms of vaccination in the region”.
“Bangladesh, India, even Afghanistan, all are ahead of us,” he said on the occasion. Shah said there were areas in the country that had a positivity rate of 25 per cent while in other areas, the positivity rate was lower than 1pc. “If people gather in areas with low positivity rates, it will not spread as much,” he added.
