The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will increase the treatment capacity of six public sector hospitals of Karachi with an addition of 525 beds in order to help them treat COVID-19 patients. This was stated by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt General Muhammad Afzal as he met Sindh Governor Imran Ismail at the Governor House the other day. The NDMA chairman said on the occasion that they would extend cooperation to the Sindh government till improvement in the situation of the coronavirus crisis in the province. He said the NDMA had been performing an important role in tackling the issue of locust invasion affecting the farmlands in the country. He claimed that the issue of locust invasion in Punjab had been tackled while action was in progress against the pests in a few districts of Sindh. The governor appreciated the role of NDMA in tackling the twin national emergencies of the COVID-19 epidemic and locust invasion at the same time, saying that efforts of the authority had been praiseworthy to tackle these national issues. Highlighting the steps taken by the federal government for the control of COVID-19, Ismail said Prime Minister Imran Khan had been advocating imposition of a smart lockdown instead of a complete shutdown from the very beginning. Now everyone had realised the PM’s farsightedness and vision, he maintained. He said that despite financial constraints, no new tax had been imposed in the newly presented federal budget as the federal government was taking every step to improve the country’s economy.
