NCOC conference: Education and health ministers to decide on schools today

Today, the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) will conduct a meeting with all of the country's health and education ministers to assess the COVID-19 situation and make decisions on how to stop the virus from spreading.

The coronavirus positivity rate has risen dramatically in recent days, particularly in Karachi, where it reached 40% on Sunday.

The NCOC called the meeting on Saturday after analyzing data from the epidemic curve chart, disease prevalence, and potential non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in the light of escalating disease occurrence across the country, particularly in metropolitan areas.

The ministers were requested to propose a new set of NPIs today, focusing on education, public gatherings, marriage ceremonies, indoor/outdoor meals, and transportation.

The NCOC had resolved to engage intensively with provinces, particularly the Sindh government, to discuss the essential measures to combat the spreading epidemic.

From January 17, the apex COVID-19 authority had also resolved to put a complete ban on in-flight and public transport meal/snack serving.

The forum had requested that federating units adopt harsh penalties against violators of SOPs, particularly mask-wearing, and that the mandatory vaccination program be enforced.

It had given orders to all quarters to speed up the ongoing vaccination campaign and increase efforts to meet vaccination targets.