Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday recommended banning large public gatherings as the second wave of Covid-19 continued to intensify.
In a tweet, NCOC head, Planning minister Asad Umar said “Rapid increase in positivity requires urgent steps to save lives & livelihoods”.
The recommendations come days after the government ordered work-from-home policy for half of the staff in both public and private sector offices and relatively broader smart lockdowns in the urban centres of the country as part of the second phase of measures to curb the spread of Coronavirus pandemic.
Pakistan recorded at least 1,700 cases – highest in more than three months – during the last 24-hour period. During the same period, at least 21 people succumbed to the virus and more than 55 were declared critical.
The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) meeting today, chaired by Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar, reviewed the epidemic curve data and the disease’s prevalence in the country.
“Since mid-October, when NCC first considered the NCOC recommendation to ban large public gatherings as daily cases have nearly tripled,” the Minister Umar said in a tweet.
“The national political leadership across the political spectrum needs to demonstrate leadership to send a message to the entire nation for taking preventive steps and follow sop’s,” the minister urged.