NCOC finalises proposal for National Coordination Committee meeting

Guidelines for Radaman regarding Taraweeh prayers, Iftar, Sehri to be discussed with Ulema

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Tuesday finalised various recommendations to be approved by the National Coordination Committee's meeting, expected to meet later today with PM Imran in chair.

The meeting was chaired by Minister for Planning Asad Umar  and discussed a further plan of action as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed 5,700.

The NCOC recommended the Ministry of Interior to issue notifications for the closure of borders for another two weeks, effective from the expiry date of the previous notification.

It observed that the Wagah Border must remain closed from April 16 to 29, the western border between Afghanistan and Iran to remain closed till April 26 and the Kartarpur Corridor till April 24.

The meeting decided that guidelines for Ramadan regarding Taraweeh prayers, Iftar, Sehri and distribution of food items should be discussed with the Ulema.



Regarding manufacturing capacity of kits, the meeting observed that the Ministry of Science and Technology, Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) should finalise the decision of locally producing testing kits within 36 hours.

The meeting also discussed the Pakistan Engineering Council's production of five types of ventilators as eight designs have been submitted for approval.

The NCOC further observed that seven trains had been converted into hospitals and isolation wards. 48 railway hospitals were available, including 12 major hospitals and 36 small dispensaries.



The officials further discussed that three months were required to repatriate all stranded Pakistanis. Seven international airports, except Sialkot, have been made operational to bring back the stranded citizens.

Interior Minister Brigadier (retd) Ijaz Ahmed Shah, Minister for Industries and Production Muhammad Hammad Azhar, Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan, Minister for Economic Affairs Khusro Bakhtiar, Minister for National Food and Security Fakhar Imam, Prime Minister's Special Assistant Moeed Yusuf, State Health Minister Dr Zafar Mirza and Finance Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood were present at the briefing.

Chief Ministers of Sindh, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and chief secretaries of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa participated in the meeting through video link.