NCOC seeks citizens’ help to curb COVID-19 SOP violations

October 30, 2020

The National Command and Operations Centre on Saturday sought citizens help to discourage violation of COVID-19 SOPs as the country looks to avoid a second wave of infections.

“With the arrival of second wave and continued wide scale violation of the SOPs, the NCOC has decided to seek citizens help for SOP compliance,” said NCOC chairman and Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar.

He asked people to take pictures of SOPs violations such not wearing masks or not maintaining social distancing in crowded places and send those images to a government-issued number along with the location.

The number is +92 335 3336262.

COVID-19 tally

As many as 807 new confirmed cases were recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's total to 332,993. At least 21,688 tests were conducted across Pakistan.

The NCOC said 11 people succumbed to the virus in hospitals while 539 patients recovered. The country's active cases stand at 12,121.

The accumulated tally of coronavirus cases in Sindh stands at 145,475, 104,016 in Punjab, 19,818 in Islamabad, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported 39,458 COVID-19 cases, Baochistan 15,896, Gilgit-Baltistan 4,248 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir 4,082.

Implementing SOPs

After continuing warnings, the NCOC on Wednesday made it mandatory for all citizens to wear a mask when stepping out of their houses. It also asked provinces to ensure implementation of COVID-19 SOPs particularly in shopping malls, restaurants and public transports.

The NCOC warned that the case positivity rate had crossed 2% in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Hyderabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzzafarabad, Mirpur, Peshawar and Quetta.

Following the NCOC directives, Islamabad imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) for two months. "Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat said those not wearing a mask will be arrested by the police.

Punjab imposed 491 "micro smart lockdowns" across the province with 431 in Lahore alone while Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani hinted at school closure due to a surge in coronavirus cases.

Original Article