Govt switches Covid strategy to ‘micro smart lockdowns’

Asad Umar warns Pakistan’s success in reducing coronavirus cases can be turned into defeat if SOPs flouted

ISLAMABAD:

The government is shifting towards a ‘micro smart lockdown’ strategy under which small localities such as one building with multiple units or small neighbourhoods would be targeted instead of big areas, Planning Minister Asad Umar announced on Tuesday.

Addressing the media, Umar, who chairs the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the nerve centre of the government’s unified response to the coronavirus pandemic, reiterated warning that lifting of lockdown did not mean the threat of coronavirus was over.

“We are not declaring victory yet just because the number of coronavirus cases have reduced,” the minister told a press conference in the federal capital. “The number of active cases may rise again if people stop following SOPs [standard operating procedures],” he cautioned.

“There were 15 more deaths due to the virus yesterday and 15 deaths are a lot for us. We should not assume that the country is completely safe from the pandemic. The success of reduced numbers could turn into a defeat if there is negligence,” he said.

The minister urged the people to strictly adhere to the precautionary measures to overcome the pandemic even as regular economic and social activities resumed.

“People have so far fully cooperated with the government and followed guidelines issued by the government to contain spread of Covid.”

At present, according to the minister, there are over 7,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases across the country. He said the government was making efforts to arrange home isolation for them. He added that currently 85 smart lockdowns were in place in 20 districts.

Umar credited the government’s policies of contact, trace and smart lockdowns, and public awareness for containing the spread of the pandemic in a short time period. “Majority of the people followed the SOPs and that yielded positive results. The media also ran effective public awareness messages.”

The press conference came as the nationwide tally of confirmed Covid-19 cases stood at 285,191, with 6,112 recorded deaths, as off Tuesday morning. The country has seen a significant drop in active cases in recent days as it gradually resumes social and economic activities.

The first case of coronavirus emerged in the country on February 26 and continue to spread. Umar recalled that by mid-June, a study by the London-based Imperial College predicted an alarming situation for Pakistan, saying that as many as 78,000 people could be dying daily by August 10.

However, he added, the strategy of trace, contact and test remained highly successful. “Under this strategy, 1.1 million contacts were traced out, over one million tests were conducted and positivity ratio of such tests was 10.5%,” he added.

Since the peak, the minister added, as many as 2,350 smart lockdowns were imposed and at one time about 700-800 lockdowns were in place across the country. “At there are 85 lockdowns in 20 districts,” he added.

The minister said India in the east and Iran in the west were still reeling from the pandemic. In the last 10 days, he added, positivity ratio of test conducted in Pakistan was 3% while in Iran the ratio was 9.4% and in India and Bangladesh it was 9.8% and 24%, respectively.

With input from APP