Particular Assistant to the Prime Minister on Well being Dr Zafar Mirza on Wednesday mentioned that the World Well being Organisation is viewing the Covid-19 scenario within the nation by a “health lens” whereas the federal government has to have a look at the “holistic picture”.
He was referring to a letter from the world well being physique wherein it had advisable that the nation impose an “intermittent lockdown” to curb the unfold of Covid-19, noting that the nation does not meet any stipulations for lifting restrictions as was finished on Could 1 after which on Could 22.
The letter dated June 7 was penned by Dr Palitha Mahipala, WHO Nation Head for Pakistan, and acknowledged that the coronavirus has unfold to nearly all districts within the nation, with main cities making up a majority of nationwide circumstances.
“The government’s choice of policies has been guided by the best evidence available about the disease spread and our best assessment of the fast deteriorating socio-economic conditions in the country,” the SAPM responded in an announcement.
Mirza mentioned that the federal government was pursuing a “holistic strategy to combat the coronavirus”. He added {that a} ministerial degree assembly occurred on the Nationwide Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on daily basis wherein the federal government with the assistance of consultants “reviewed the disease data and trends very minutely and took a holistic view of the situation along with the provinces and developed recommendations”.
The SAPM mentioned Pakistan was a low middle-income nation the place two thirds of the folks had been depending on day-to-day earnings. “[The government] has made best sovereign decisions in the best interest of our people,” Mirza mentioned.
He added, nonetheless, that the federal government has to make “tough policy choices” to take care of the steadiness between lives and livelihoods. He mentioned that though the lockdown had been eased, there was elevated deal with implementing the usual working procedures (SOPs) issued by the federal government to forestall the unfold of the virus.
He famous that sporting masks in public had been made obligatory and the federal government had developed a “robust” mechanism for coping with the unfold of Covid-19 which incorporates tracing, testing and quarantine to establish and seal off hotspots. He added that one other technique included shoring up the well being system to deal with the inflow of sufferers.
Mirza mentioned the federal government “appreciated” the WHO’s suggestions but it surely had to have a look at a “holistic picture and make decisions on relative risk assessment basis”.
“This has been the case in Pakistan all along,” he added.
Pakistan meets no stipulations for ending lockdown: WHO
The WHO, in its letter, mentioned that Pakistan has been ranked among the many high 10 nations on the planet reporting the very best variety of new circumstances of Covid-19 and suggested the federal government to boost day by day testing capability to 50,000 to evaluate the precise prevalence of coronavirus throughout the nation.
Whereas expressing concern over the hasty lifting of restrictions, the WHO mentioned Pakistan didn’t meet any of the stipulations for opening of the lockdown.
It additionally alerted Pakistan to its excessive positivity charge, underlining seriousness of the Covid-19 scenario and poor efforts of the federal government on this regard.
As a technique to assist include the huge transmission of coronavirus, the WHO advisable the imposition of a two-week lockdown. “WHO strongly recommends the two weeks off and two weeks on strategy as it offers the smallest curve,” the letter mentioned.
Alerting Pakistan to its excessive positivity with weak surveillance system, the WHO mentioned: “The positivity charge is excessive at 24 per cent (above the required degree of 5pc), the surveillance system (establish, take a look at, isolate, look after the ailing together with identification and observe up of contacts and quarantining) is weak.
“Decisions will require the need to balance response directly to Covid-19, which includes intermittent lockdowns of target areas (districts, towns, section of the town or village) as a first option and should be dealt on priority basis while simultaneously engaging in strategic planning and coordinated action to maintain essential health services delivery, mitigating the risk of system collapse,” the letter added.
