MM News

ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Centre will hold a special session today to review the alarming rise in coronavirus cases in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.

The session will be chaired by Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, who also heads the centre tackling the coronavirus pandemic. A statement issued by NCOC said the Punjab and KP chief ministers and ICT commissioner are invited to attend the session via video link.

Provincial chief secretaries, health secretaries and home secretaries will also join the meeting. The meeting will discuss the rising trend of COVID-19, implementation of high impact interventions and state of critical medical facilities, including oxygenated beds, ventilators and other facilities.

It must be mentioned that 4,468 new positive cases and 67 more deaths were reported in the country during the last 24 hours due to coronavirus infection. The death toll in the country due to pandemic has now reached 14,158 while the total number of cases has surged to 649,824.

Punjab reported 2,451 new coronavirus in the last 24 hours. Of them, 1,566 cases were reported in Lahore alone. The daily positivity rate in Lahore has reached 23%. KP reported 890 new cases while Islamabad reported 663 infections in the last 24 hours.

A special NCOC morning session was held a day earlier in which provincial administrations were asked to ensure strict implementation of NPIs and violators must be dealt with strictly. The NCOC said major violations are being reported from the transport sector, weddings, restaurants, commercial activities and public gatherings.

A day earlier, the NCOC head announced that people aged 50 and above can sign up to get vaccinated for coronavirus starting next week. “Registration of those who are 50 plus for COVID vaccination will be opened on March 30th,” announced Umar in a tweet.

He urged everyone over the age of 50 to register when the process begins and also reminded those who are 60 and older that registration for them had already begun.

Pakistan is vaccinating the country’s healthcare workers and people over the age of 60. Pakistan is using the Sinopharm vaccine developed by state-run China National Pharmaceutical Group.