Govt may shut down NCOC as pandemic dissipates

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the nerve centre of the government’s anti-coronavirus strategy for nearly two years, might be closed after a successful battle against the global pandemic, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said on Saturday.

Dr Sultan, the de facto health minister of the country, said that the prime minister was expected to formally announce the shutting down of the NCOC by the end of next month, adding that a monument would be built to celebrate the success of Pakistan in the fight against coronavirus in the last two years.

The NCOC was established one month after the emergence of the first Covid-19 case in the country in February 26, 2020 to implement the decisions of the National Coordination Committee. Since then the committee had been working with Planning Minister Asad Umar as its head.

The NCOC would complete two years of its formation on March 27. Dr Faisal Sultan, according to a private TV channel, said that after the closure, the responsibilities of the NCOC would be transferred to the National Institute of Health (NIH).

The country endured five waves of the pandemic, which affected over 1.5 million people, including more than 30,000 deaths. However, the latest data shows that the pandemic was dissipating gradually, with the single-day tally of new cases hovering around 500, while the fatalities coming down to a single digit.

On Saturday, the NCOC reported 571 new cases from 36,885 Covid tests during the last 24 hours, while the death toll remained 6. The forum said that the national positivity ratio was 1.54%, adding that at present there were 641 patients were in critical care at various Covid-dedicated health facilities.