Daily Times

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Thursday said wearing masks and compliance of standard operating procedures (SOPs) by the public were only measures to contain COVID-19 outbreak in the country. The NCOC meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar took stock of SOPs through digital analysis and cattle markets’ management and emphasized the need to ensure compliance of safety guidelines.

Speaking on the occasion, Asad Umar said public health and safety was the government’s top priority and any sort of complacency in following safety protocols would increase the risk of disease spread on Eid-ul-Azha.

He directed the provincial governments to ensure strict compliance of SOPs and health guidelines in cattle markets. Asad said, “The average tests conducted from June 1 to 15 was 23,403 whereas the average tests carried out from July 1 to 15 was 22,969. However, the average COVID-19 cases detected from June 1-15 are 5,056 and from July 1-15 is 3097.” This decline, he said in the number of positive cases was mainly due to the administrative measures taken to implement smart lockdown and implementation of safety guidelines. The decrease in pandemic spread was not due to reduction of tests per say rather public behaviour of adhering to SOPs compliance and health guidelines helped to contain the pandemic.