Military deployment significantly improved Covid SOPs compliance: Umar

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said on Tuesday that a significant improvement had been seen in standard operating procedures (SOPs) compliance to control spread of novel coronavirus after stronger enforcement measures including military deployment took place.

“National average compliance has doubled from 34 per cent on April 25 to 68 per cent on May 3,” he said in his tweet.

He also stressed the need to sustain and build on this compliance level especially till Eidul Fitr.

Meanwhile in another tweet, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Chief Umar said that yesterday (May 3) the number of anti-Covid vaccination exceeded the 150,000 mark as more than 150,000 people were vaccinated on a single day.

Similarly, the vaccination for the age group 40-49 years also started yesterday.

"We expect to receive 19 million doses of Covid vaccines by the first half of the current year," Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Dr Faisal Sultan said while addressing a news conference at the NCOC.

He said that the government has signed agreements to receive 30 million doses of the vaccines, adding that the process will continue in phases.

Read more: Pakistan to receive 19m Covid vaccine doses by June: Dr Faisal

Moreover, Pakistan reported 3,377 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the country's Covid-19 tally to 837,523.

The death toll climbed to 18,310 after 161 more people succumbed to the deadly disease.

As many as 5,018 patients also recovered from the contagion in a day taking total recoveries to 733,062.

According to NCOC, the total active Covid-19 cases across the country were reported to be 86,151.