–Asad Umar says govt using technology to trace coronavirus hotspots, over 350 points sealed in Punjab
–Minister admits hike in cases, says people need to take precautions more than ever after relaxation in restrictions
ISLAMABAD: In a bid to contain the soaring coronavirus cases via ‘smart lockdown’, the government has announced it will use technology to trace COVID-19 cases and identify virus hotspots throughout the country and seal them off.
With 30,334 infections in total, Punjab and Sindh have the highest number of infections, reporting 11,093 and 11,480 cases, respectively. Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have reported 1,935 and 4,669 cases each. In Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), the cases swelled to 641 and 430, respectively. However, Azad Kashmir has the lowest number of cases, with 86 infections so far.
With 8,023 recoveries, at least 659 people have succumbed to the infectious disease in the country to date.
Addressing a press conference, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar urged the people to take responsibility of adopting precautionary measures issued by the government and health departments to control the coronavirus outbreak.
During the briefing, Umar also gave a presentation to show how the government was implementing its new strategy.
He said that the smart lockdown system had started working on the ground. Under this system, the government got to know the number of cases in various areas of the country and the health teams approached the areas to decide which streets or localities were to be sealed.
In Punjab, 359 points were sealed, while in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) the number was at 177.
He said that at present 165 corona patients were on oxygen out of which 85 were on ventilators in various hospitals across the country while over 5,500 corona patients were admitted to the hospitals.
Appreciating the people’s behavior, he expressed satisfaction that the majority of the people were following the precautionary measures issued by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Umar, who heads the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), said that it had become even more important to adopt precautionary measures when the government had decided to ease lockdown to provide the people opportunities for earning livelihoods.
He said that the coronavirus situation in the country was not out of control; however, in case of any emergency, the government was fully prepared to cope with the situation. The minister said that the decision of gradual lifting of lockdown was unanimously taken to ensure that the daily wagers and small businessmen should not lose their sources of income.
He admitted that the number of COVID patients was also increasing. “The people cannot be left without employment for a long time, therefore, the government has adopted such a system through which the daily routine life could be ensured along with strict measures to control the disease,” he maintained.
The minister said the big policy decisions had already been taken and now the government was ensuring operational implementation on the ground. He said that all provincial and federal government departments and armed forces were working together to implement this system.
Umar informed the media that the testing, tracking and quarantining strategy was being fully implemented. He said that the number of tests in the country had increased from 473 tests on March 15 to over 31,000 tests on May 9. “Now 70 laboratories across the country have the capacity of testing for corona disease which possess all necessary equipment required for the testing,” he added.
The minister said that the National Information Technology Board (NITB) had developed a web portal in which record of 424 hospitals was being uploaded through which the users would be able to know about the available facilities in those hospitals for COVID-19 patients.
He said that each hospital would have a separate login ID through which details of available facilities would be obtained.
Furthermore, he said, the Punjab government had also developed a mobile application through which the people would have access to information about the availability of health facilities, beds and ventilators, etc.
The minister said that the government had also made an agreement with the Rural Support Programme which was a network of thousands of community-based institutions to reach 25 per cent poor communities across the country.
He said that the Punjab government had also notified allowing the coronavirus patients to quarantine themselves at home if they had no need of hospitalisation.
The planning minister cited the services of healthcare professionals, rescue workers, cleaners and other frontline workers and said that it was the responsibility of every citizen to follow precautions so that the virus spread would not get out of control.
