Zubair Qureshi
Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar has expressed the confidence that the decision to ease lockdown in phased manner will be implemented across the country with national spirit of unity.
Addressing a news conference at the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) here Sunday, the federal minister said the decision to ease lockdown was taken in consultation with all the federating units and now it is time for their implementation.
He expressed satisfaction that people had acted with responsibility but emphasized they needed to more strictly follow the precautionary measures after the easing of restrictions to avoid the spread of the virus. He said the decision of easing restrictions was taken to provide livelihoods to the people.
Asad Umar said the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) has been working since 31st of March without any break to take the timely decisions and actions to address the situation arising out of Coronavirus.
“We can’t remain indifferent to people’s being jobless in big number,” said Asad Umar and NCOC was making efforts day and night to counter the challenge and to minimize coronavirus effect on poor man’s life.
He said the testing capacity is considerably being enhanced and 13500 tests were carried out on Saturday (May 9, 2020). He said there are now seventy labs fully equipped to carry out Corona Virus tests. Currently there are eighty-five people on the ventilators and 165 on oxygen. The Minister for Planning said a system was being developed in order to ensure efficient response in case the Coronavirus cases spike in the coming days. He expressed satisfaction that the trajectory of Corona Virus cases is not as serious as has been witnessed in some other countries. He however said that we are preparing for the worst situation. A portal will soon be made operational to update record of hospitals and patients.
The Minister said that smart lockdown is being enforced only in hotspot areas. Currently, the smart lockdown is in place in 359 areas of Punjab and 177 areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Asad Umar said we are also engaging with the rural support programs not only to create awareness amongst the rural population about the contagion but also to provide relief to the deserving families.
