Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The government is now shifting towards a ‘micro smart lockdown’ strategy to target only specific locations affected by the coronavirus pandemic, said Federal Minister Asad Umar on Tuesday.
At present there are over 7,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases across the country and the government is making efforts to arrange home isolation for them, he said addressing a media conference in Islamabad.
There are currently 85 smart lockdowns in place in 20 districts, and the government has imposed 2,350 lockdowns in total, according to the federal planning and development minister who has also been the government’s focal person in the pandemic response as the chief for the National Command and Operations Centre.
Umar credited the government’s decisions and the public’s cooperation for controlling the spread of the pandemic across the country.
The government’s policies of contact tracing and smart lockdowns, and public awareness have contributed greatly in containing the spread of the pandemic in a short time period, he said.
Majority of the people followed standard operating procedures) and that yeilded positive results, said Umar, adding that the media also ran effective public awareness messages on the contagion.
However, the pandemic is yet not over and the number of active cases may rise again if people stop following SOPs, cautioned Umar.
“We are not declaring victory yet just because the number of coronavirus cases have reduced. There were 15 more deaths due to the virus yesterday and 15 deaths are a lot for us. We should not assume that the country is completely safe from the pandemic. The success of reduced numbers could turn into a defeat if there is negligence,” he said.
This was announced by the province’s Transport Minister Syed Awais Shah on Tuesday. The transporters will comply with the SOPs set by the Sindh government and added that passengers would be bound to wear face masks.
The transporters have been directed to ensure social distancing between the passengers. The minister has warned of action against the transporters if SOPs were violated.
The NCOC on Tuesday reported 531 persons were tested corona positive and 15 patients lost their lives.
