QUETTA: Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has said that provincial chief secretaries have been directed to ensure strict compliance with standard operating procedures (SOPs) on the occasion of Eidul Azha to avoid the spread of coronavirus.
The planning minister was talking to media persons here on Thursday after chairing a special meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
He said that these SOPs have been prepared for the protection and health of the people. Umar said that the policy of smart lockdown has started yielding positive results.
Earlier, he chaired a meeting of the NCOC. Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan, National Assembly (NA) Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri, Balochistan chief secretary, Balochistan inspector general of police and other senior officials attended the meeting.
The meeting discussed the latest coronavirus situation in the Balochistan province, SOPs and safety precautions for cattle markets in the city ahead of Eidul Azha.
The planning and development minister taking to Twitter said the NCC meeting lauded Balochistan government’s efforts for containing the spread of novel coronavirus.
“The improvement in positivity ratio in Balochistan was acknowledged and leadership provided by the chief minister appreciated,” he tweeted.
The NCOC last week held meetings in Karachi and Lahore to review the Covid-19 situation in the provinces.
Earlier, the NCOC had formulated the standard operating procedures on Monday regarding cattle markets and imposition of smart lockdown in several places of the country ahead of Eidul Azha. The forum was told that around 700 cattle markets will be functioning across Pakistan on the eve of Eidul Azha.
ACTIVE CASES DROP TO 50,307:
A total of 1,763 new coronavirus cases were reported in the country during the last twenty-four hours taking the tally to 269,191, said the NCOC on Thursday.
The number of total active Covid-19 cases reduced to 50,307 from 51,283 a day earlier, as so far 213,175 people have recovered from the disease across Pakistan.
The death toll from the virus stands at 5,709 with 32 deaths were reported over the last 24 hours. A total of 22,408 coronavirus tests were carried out during the aforementioned period.
The total reported cases include include 115,213 in Sindh, 91,129 in Punjab, 32,753 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 11,517 in Balochistan, 14,722 in Islamabad, 1,896 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 1,961 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
PUNJAB REPORTS FIVE DEATHS:
Punjab reported 313 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the province’s total number of confirmed infections to 91,129.
According to the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, five more people died from the virus during the period, due to which the death toll in the province rose to 2,100.
As many as 66,802 patients have recovered while overall 670,624 tests have been conducted so far.
According to a district-wise breakdown of fresh coronavirus cases, Lahore reported 101 cases, Nankana Sahib, 1, Kasur, two, Shiekhupura, five, Rawalpindi, 17, Jhelum, one, Attock, six, Gujranwala, 21, Sialkot, eight, Gujrat, 17, Multan, 14, Faisalabad, 23, Jhang, four, Rahim Yar Khan, two, Bahawalpur, three, Sahiwal, eight, Okara, two, and DG Khan, four.
