President urges provinces to ensure SOPs compliance during Eid ul Azha, Muharram

ISLAMABAD: President Dr. Arif Alvi on Wednesday urged upon all provinces to ensure strict compliance of standard operating procedures (SOPs) on Eid-ul-Azha and during the month of Muharram-ul-Haram to control the spread of coronavirus.

During his visit to National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the president said the disease was on downward trajectory, however stressed that sense of complacency needed to be avoided both by public and administration.

The president lauded the efforts of NCOC team in putting up a robust response to the pandemic and ensuring coordinated actions across the country.

He said the NCOC led from the front in the fight against pandemic from daily monitoring of the situation to capacity enhancement of health system and from establishing a credible database to better resource management and formulation of appropriate SOPs.

Dr. Arif Alvi conveyed his appreciation to the nation for adhering health guidelines.

The president was briefed by Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiative Asad Umar and Major General Asif Mehmood Goraya, DG Operations & Planning NCOC in detail on the COVID-19 related multi sectoral situation, implementation of NCC decisions, patterns of COVID-19 spread and excellent coordination mechanism established with the federating units.

The president was also briefed about the measures being taken for improvement in the healthcare system of the country to cope with the challenge, capacity building of the healthcare professionals, and increased availability of beds for the patients, uninterrupted availability of crucial medicines, use of digital technology for contact tracing and disease projection.

Earlier, the president was received by National Coordinator NCOC Lieutenant General Hamood Uz Zaman Khan.

Apart from federal ministers including Federal Minister for National Food Security Fakhar Imam, Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noor ul Haq Qadri, Chairman NDMA Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal and Surgeon General Lieutenant General Nigar Johar in presence, SAPM Health Dr Zafar Mirza and provincial chief secretaries attended the meeting via video-link.