Omicron spread sets off alarm bells

Positivity rate shoots to 35.3% in Karachi; provinces makes masks mandatory; NCOC expands NPIs

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI:

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) asked the federating units, especially Sindh on Saturday to take strict measures to tackle the rising trend of the fifth wave of Covid pandemic driven by Omicron variant cases and ensure enforcement of obligatory vaccination regime.

Sindh is the most effected provinces because of the current spike in the infectious disease, witnessing an alarming 35.3% positivity ratio in the provincial capital of Karachi, the most populous city and financial hub of the country.

In a meeting in Saturday, the NCOC – the nerve centre of the government’s unified strategy to contain the pandemic – proposed non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and called for stringent action against those violating the coronavirus-induced standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Following up on the NCOC recommendations, the Sindh government in a meeting of the provincial task force on Covid, made wearing of masks mandatory at all public places, such as shopping malls, wedding halls, government offices etc.

Read: Sindh decides against closing educational institutions amid Omicron spike

The Provincial Taskforce on Coronavirus’ meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah was informed that infection rate had increased to 35.3% in Karachi, 5.12% in Hyderabad and 2.4% in the rest of the province. However, it was assured that the situation remained under control.

The health department informed the meeting that at present, there was no pressure on the hospitals while Covid-19 patients were recovering fast and the death rate had fallen to 1.6%. Shah directed for an audit of all the public and private hospitals to assess their facilities like beds, doctors, medicines etc.

The chief minister also directed the health department for the Covid-19 preparation plan so that necessary and timely measures could be taken. He added that he would review the Covid situation again within the next few days so that necessary decisions could be taken accordingly.

After thorough discussion and deliberations, the meeting decided that all the activities, including educational, social, and business, would continue under strict SOPs. It was also decided that all the educational institutions would function as usual, but under strict SOPs.

The chief minister directed for intensifying the vaccination drive across the province. "We have to vaccinate our people so that they develop an immune system against the infection," Shah said, adding: “Unvaccinated people will not be allowed in hotels, major markets and marriage halls.”

The meeting decided to make wearing a mask mandatory in all public and private offices. The administration was directed to keep checking vaccination certificates and encourage people to wear masks and maintain social distance.

The participants of the meeting recommended deduction of a day’s salary of officials who did not wear masks to offices. They also recommended serving of food at marriage halls in lunch boxes, for which the commissioners were directed to coordinate with the local administrations in this regard.

Read More: CAA bans meals in domestic flights amid Omicron upsurge

Earlier, the NCOC decided to extensively engage with the provinces, especially Sindh, for the necessary measures to tackle the fast-spreading Omicron variant. The forum directed all quarters to fast-track vaccination drive and ramp up efforts to achieve vaccination targets.

The meeting decided to convene provincial health and education ministers session on January Monday (tomorrow) to suggest the new set of NPIs. The forum also decided to implement ban on inflight food serving from Monday (tomorrow). Acting on the NCOC decision, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) banned the serving of meal during flight from Monday (tomorrow).

The NCOC decisions came as the single day tally of Covid cases crossed the 4,000 mark for the first time since August 28, while the national positivity rate soared above 8% -- the highest level since the first week of August.

The NCOC said in its daily update of the disease that a total of 4,286 new Covid-19 cases were reported in the last 24 hours, up 20% from 3,571 new infections the previous day. The highest number of cases, 3,089, were reported from Sindh.

Pakistan reports more than 2,500 recoveries from coronavirus, while the number of active cases soared to 28,112 of whom 709 were in critical condition. The national positivity ratio during the past 24 hours was 8.2%, the forum added.

(With input from APP)