Daily Times

Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday said that the government would adopt the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) decisions regarding further relaxation in COVID-related restrictions imposed on different activities.

He made these remarks while presiding over a meeting of provincial Task Force on Coronavirus held here at CM House,

The meeting was attended by provincial ministers, Saeed Ghani, Nasair Shah, Advisor Law Murtaza Wahab, Parliamentary Secretary on Health Qasim Soomro, IG Sindh Mushtaq Maher, ACS Home Usman Chachar, PSCM Sajid Jamal Abro, Commissioner Karachi Naveed Shaikh, Adl Ig Karachi Imran Yakoob, Secretary School Education Ahmed Bux Narejo, Secretary Industries Riazuddin Qureshi, Special Secretary Finance Asif Jahangir, Dr Sara of WHO, Dr Qaiser Sajjad, representatives of Corps -5, rangers and other organizations, said a statement. The task force endorsed opening of shrines, amusement parks, gyms and swimming pools as was decided in the last meeting, he said.

Secretary Health Kazim Jatoi while briefing the participants about the COVID-19 situation said the detection rate has dropped down.

He added that 14052 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours among which only 521 were detected positive, showing a ratio of 3.71 percent. Among these cases, 7.54 percent cases were reported from Karachi, 15 percent with 18 deaths in East, nine percent cases with six deaths in South, nine percent cases with 11 deaths in Korangi, nine percent cases with 11 deaths in West, eight percent cases and three deaths in Milar, seven percent cases and eight deaths from Center.

The meeting was informed that in June, 368 patients of COVID-19 have died so far, of them 208 showing 56 percent on ventilators in hospitals, 83 or 23 percent off ventilators and 77 or 21 percent at homes.

At this the chief minister said in May they had registered 392 deaths which meant that the death ratio has not come down so far.

The meeting was informed that the provincial government has received 4,175,997 doses of vaccines of six different brands, of which 3,320,251 have been utilized.

The chief minister directed the health department to expand vaccination drives all over the province.

The task force urged the chief minister to start vaccinating those people who did not have Computerized National Identity Cards.

At this the chief minister directed the home department to consult with the NCOC.

The chief minister said the NCOC meeting scheduled to be held on June 29 would review the situation and expected to announce a few more relaxations. “We would adopt their decisions because it would be a uniform policy,” he concluded.