PM, army chief all praise for NCOC as it completes 500 days
Minister Asad Umar appreciated the role media played in crisis communication and community engagement during the pandemic. PHOTO: NCOC/FILE
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) - a high-level forum established to combat coronavirus in Pakistan - completed its 500 days on Sunday amid praises by the prime minister and the government ministers.
On the occasion, a feature was also released titled 'NCOC: A Unified Endeavour' by the Pakistan Army's media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), to underscore "strategies and mechanism behind Pakistan's successful Covid-19 response".
The NCOC is the nerve centre to synergise and articulate unified national efforts against Covid-19 and to implement the decisions of the National Coordination Committee on Covid-19, its website read.
In a tweet, Prime Minister Imran Khan paid tribute to the NCOC team for its "Covid response strategy". He added that the NCOC's strategy has been praised by the world.
Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa also lauded the NCOC for its efforts to contain the deadly contagion. “NCOC has remained pivotal to Pakistan’s riposte against COVID-19," the ISPR Twitter handle quoted him as saying.
"It symbolises optimised national response in adversity, saving precious lives. Accolades for the NCOC team on completing 500 days of continuous struggle & delivery," the army chief added.
Planning Minister Asad Umar, who is also the chief of the NCOC, tweeted the documentary on the NCOC. He said the documentary underlined the steps - appreciated at the global level - taken by the NCOC to combat the pandemic.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry congratulated the NCOC on the completion of 500 days of its establishment and evolving a comprehensive strategy to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. In a statement published by Radio Pakistan, Fawad said the NCOC, since its inception, has taken decisions in view of scientific and ground realities to combat the pandemic.
He said the government pursued a balanced strategy of smart lockdown that was focused on safeguarding the poor and the daily wage-earners as per the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan and NCOC guidelines.