Daily Times

Provincial Transport Authority (PTA) was taking effective steps to ensure implementation on Covid-19 related Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued by National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) in public transport including bus stations. Talking to APP here on Sunday, Provincial Transport Authority (PTA) Secretary Naeem Bukhari said, “We are focused on strict enforcement of transport related anti-corona SOPs of the NCOC.” The department had also issued a specific transport regime being implemented in letter and spirit in public transport to contain corona pandemic. Bukhari also urged the passengers and transporters to cooperate with transport authorities and the local administration in their efforts to control corona spread. In case of non-compliance to NCOC SOPs, he added, the drivers and transport owners were being charged with fines, while passengers not adhering to precautionary measures were also being issued warnings accordingly.

He mentioned that teams of transport department’s officials were also paying surprise visits to lorry adda/bus stands to check the SOPs there and compliance report was being forwarded to authorities concerned on daily basis. “The surveillance teams are regularly visiting the bus terminals and van stands to inspect the SOPs as the provincial transport department is all committed to implement the NCOC decisions and advisories issued time to time to contain coronavirus,” Bukhari maintained.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by this scribe, corona SOPs were still being violated in the public transport as most of the passengers and transport crews were not wearing face-masks and there were no facility of hand-sanitizing and temperature-guns etc. in the inter-city and intra-city public transport vehicles.

Moreover, transporters and commuters were found exhibiting irresponsible behavior in observing anti-corona SOPs while using public transport. Anwar Ali, an employee of a private security company, who uses public transport to reach his office, told this scribe, “You see, no one is observing social distancing in the local transport and transporters are just focused on money-making by boarding passengers beyond the vehicles’ seating capacity. Similarly, sanitizer is not available in any local transport,” he said, adding that there was a dire need to create awareness among transporters, bus crew as well as the general public about the fatal consequences of Covid-19. However, contrary to this, the major inter-city and inter-provincial transport companies had made adequate arrangements for implementation of anti-corona SOPs at their terminals and buses, the survey revealed.

Youngsters: As many as 24,570 adolescents in the age group of 15 to 17 years have been jabbed themselves against the lethal coronavirus so far out of the set target to cover 324,624 youngsters including students enrolled at schools and colleges in the Rawalpindi district.

Giving details of the vaccination being carried out in the entire district, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) District Health Authority Dr Faiza Kanwal told APP that 7710 teenagers have received the anti-Covid vaccine so far in the Rawalpindi Cantonment area out of the set target to cover 58,338 youngsters in the area, 5722 received in Rawal town area of the total 63,318,4693 in the Potohar town of the total 74,228,2575 in Gujar Khan of the total 40,699,111 in Kotli sattian of total 7157,1101 in Murree of 14,004,1886 in Taxila of 40,666,1301 in Kahutta of 13,231 and 128 received the dose in Kalar syeda area to cover the total 13,033 young population, she added..

She informed that under the campaign 18 teams were visiting around 192 schools and colleges across the district to complete the task of immunization while the remaining youngsters out of the educational institutions were getting themselves vaccinated at the 26 vaccination centres operating in the district. The CEO informed that “Free of cost Pfizer vaccine is being given to teenagers while Form B of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) is mandatory for jabs”, she added.

Vaccination: The Islamabad Capital Territory’s (ICT) health department has stepped up efforts to innocolate residents against coronavirus pandemic. The health teams were encouraging the federal capital dwellers to get vaccinated at earliest, said an official of the department.

Talking to APP, he said several teams were formed to inspect schools, shopping malls, restaurants, markets, parks and guest houses to ensure compliance of COVID-19 vaccination. Staff and teachers of approximately all the schools in ICT had been vaccinated against the virus, he added. Similarly, he said the civil administration was enforcing National Command and Operation Centre guidelines in letter and spirit across the city, encouraging people to vaccinate themselves.