NCC to Discuss New Measures for Covid-19

On Tuesday, the National Coordination Committee (NCC) is all set to meet. The agenda for the meeting will be to discuss which additional measures should be added to the current SOPs to curb the rise of the novel coronavirus in the country. The meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister, Imran Khan, himself. 

Asad Umar, the Planning Minister, stated on Monday that the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) will present a plan for the containment of the pandemic in the meeting. 

The meeting has been called due to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The virus first surfaced in the country during February of this year. A peak came about somewhere in the middle of June. However, the curve flattened by the time August ended. Once again, the curve is showing a rising trend. 

Umar took to Twitter to inform the public that NCOC has already discussed the additional measures that need to be taken to control the rising spread of the coronavirus. According to him, recommendations will now be tabled in the NCC, which is being arranged on Tuesday. He also stressed on how immediate measures need to be taken to ensure that economic activities do not suffer as well. 

The country has been taken over by the second wave of the novel coronavirus. The positivity ratio has soared above the previous 4%, which is the highest since the month of August. On Sunday alone, Pakistan recorded 1,123 new cases. These turned out to be the highest single-day tally as compared to the past three months. On Monday, NCOC reported that nearly 12 people lost their lives due to the virus.

In the past few days, the authorities have been especially proactive in issuing various warnings to the public against non-compliance with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the virus. Just last week, the NCOC had issued new rules related to the shutting down of shopping malls and wedding halls. They also made it mandatory to wear face mask in public. 

Last month, the government also imposed new restrictions on all the passengers traveling from abroad to Pakistan. They were to take mandatory Covid-19 tests as soon as they landed. Moreover, they were supposed to get tested for the virus even before boarding any flight to the country.

Additionally, on Monday, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced that they were taking another measure for the safety of the passengers. Thus, people were barred from entering the airport under any circumstances. The authority announced and issued a notification that declared that only passengers would be allowed entry into the airport. They could only be accompanied by the person driving their vehicle. 

The CAA stated that these instructions had been provided by the Government itself. The authorities believe that limiting meeters and greeters is a step towards curbing the rise of the virus. The notification issued further outlines that the driver was also just allowed to pick up the passenger from parking and drop them off in the drop lane.