Pakistan successfully prevented spread of COVID-19 through smart lockdown policy: Alvi

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi Thursday said the government’s strategy of smart lockdown proved very effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

“How Pakistan handled the pandemic is a different story from the rest of the world. The government’s strategy of smart lockdown and caring for the poor segments did wonders,” he said while addressing the virtual meeting of the Association of Pakistani Physicians of Northern Europe.

The president said in India, about 90,000 cases of the coronavirus being reported on daily basis. During the coronavirus, mosques in Pakistan were kept opened with all the standard operating procedures in place, he added.

President Alvi observed that the institutions in Pakistan had been working effectively, and referred to functioning of the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said its contact and tracing strategy proved very effective in tackling the infection so it was very important for the rest of the world.

The president also stressed upon focusing of preventive care than curative arrangements costing much expenditures.

The countries like Pakistan did not have much resources so they should go for preventive measures which also emerged during the pandemic, he added.

The president said during 2005 in a dental forum in China, he had highlighted the significance of distance learning and the world had now realized its importance in the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.

He stressed that the developed countries must share their knowledge and experiences in health and education sectors with the rest of the world.

The president also enumerated various initiatives and campaigns launched by the government to overcome different diseases like polio and hepatitis, which posed a challenge.

He also appreciated the services of Association of Pakistani Physicians of Northern Europe.