Massive uptick in positivity sets off alarm bells

Balochistan govt relying on mass vaccination to counter coronavirus spread in province

QUETTA:

The sudden rise of the coronavirus positivity rate in Balochistan has raised alarm bells in the corridors of the provincial government.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani said the third wave of Covid-19 has tightly gripped the entire country, adding that, currently around 4,000 to 5,000 cases are being reported on a daily basis. “In Balochistan, most of the cases are being reported in Quetta,” he said.

Emphasising the need to implement the standard operating procedures devised by the government, Shahwani said 97,000 vaccines have been provided by the federal government to Balochistan. "Vaccines have entered the market and are being administered to the elderly,” he confirmed.

The spokesperson further said that it has been decided to close inter-provincial transport on Saturday and Sunday in view of the rising cases. “Number of employees in offices is being limited.”

He regretted how SOPs are not being implemented in public places and vowed legal actions against those responsible. Shahwani announced to add 40 more beds in the corona cell of Bolan Medical Complex to deal with any untoward situation.

Shedding light on talks with religious scholars, the government spokesperson said he was assured that every kind of religious gathering will strictly follow all the SOPs.

"The city should implement all the SOPs again like last year. Prayer arrangements should be made at as many places as possible so that large gathering cannot be held together," he said.

Towards the end of his press conference, Shahwani said the newly formed “Sasta Bazaars” will provide relief to the masses in the holy month of Ramazan as per the official tariff and also ease their troubles caused by the rising inflation.

He warned that if the official tariff is not implemented then all the big sellers will go to jail.

Also read Covid-19 SOP compliance remains weak, says Asad Umar

The Balochistan government is relying on a mass vaccination campaign in the province to counter the coronavirus spread in the province.

On the other hand, the government has also decided to set up e-service centers in multiple cities for next financial year to facilitate the citizens in an optimal way by providing civic services through a single platform, an official said.

Talking to a local media outlet, he said the move was aimed at digitizing dispensation of the provincial departments’ services including issuance of domicile, marriage, divorce, land fraud, birth, death, burial and no-objection certificates for various purposes.

He said the centers would be designed on modern lines involving file a tracking system, geographic information system, complaints management system and performance management framework.

The provincial government had formulated this plan to meet challenges of the present day and overcome flaws and shortcomings in the system, the official maintained.

The added that the government was taking measures for capacity building of its officers and employees of all the departments for better governance of the province. The government was striving to improve living standards of its citizens through systematic digital transformation, the official remarked. “Steps are being taken to expedite work on the government projects,” he added.

(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM AGENCIES)

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th, 2021.