PESHAWAR: Provincial Task Force on COVID-19 while expressing its serious concerns over the increasing positivity ratio of COVID-19 cases and non-compliance of COVID Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Non Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) in the province and decided to take measures to ensure strict compliance of the SOPs and NPIs already notified to avoid further spread of the pandemic.
The forum has directed the provincial police to take a lead role for the compliance of the SOPs and NPIs, and decided to request the Pak Army for assistance in this regard. It was agreed in the meeting to strictly monitor the prevailing situation on daily basis and to impose further restrictions if deemed necessary. The forum gave serious thought to block the mobile SIMs of those citizens not getting themselves vaccinated against COVID-19 and the concerned quarters were directed to fix a deadline to this end and to take necessary steps for the awareness of general public regarding the deadline.
An important meeting of the Provincial Task Force held here on Friday with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan in the Chair discussed and reviewed in detail the overall situation of the current wave of COVID-19 in the province and took a number of important decisions to this effect.
Corps Commander Peshawar Lt. General Nauman Mahmood, Provincial cabinet members Shahram Tarakai, Taimur Saleem Jhagara, Kamran Bangash, Chief Secretary Dr Kazim Niaz, IGP Moazzam Jah Ansari Administrative Secretaries of concerned departments and others attended the meeting.
The forum expressed its dissatisfaction over the low ratio of COVID vaccination in the provincial capital Peshawar and directed the Health Department and District Administration to take concrete steps in order to achieve the desired target of vaccination. Briefing about the status of Corona vaccination in the province, it was informed that overall vaccination ratio in the province was quite satisfactory adding that country wide one million people were being vaccinated on daily basis out of which 0.2 million vaccination was being carried out in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Task Force decided to declare two days in a week (Saturday and Sunday) as off days throughout the province; and to keep all the markets and shops except essential services closed on the off days. The forum further decided in principle to suspend elective services on need basis in the hospitals of most affected areas and directed the Health Department for necessary steps wherever required. In view of the sensitivity of the situation with regard to COVID in certain districts of Hazara Division, it was decided to engage 10 corps of Pak Army to assist the local administration to contain this spread of the virus.
On this occasion, district administrations and Tehsil municipal administrations were directed to further improve the free distribution of face masks in the public. The task force stressed the need of mass scale awareness in the general public to remove misconceptions about corona vaccinations and the concerned departments were directed to launch an awareness campaign through all the platforms of mass communication.
The Task Force also expressed dis-satisfaction over the low ratio of contact tracing of COVID-19 patients and directed the quarters concerned to take necessary steps to raise the contact tracing ratio up to the desired level. Regarding the plan of health department to enhance the capacity of public sector hospitals for corona patient it was informed that the department was working to add additional 1450 beds in the existing beds capacity allocated for Corona patients in the hospitals which include 363 Low Flow Beds, 864 High Dependency Beds and 249 ICU Beds.
Talking on the occasion, the chief minister directed the administration to ensure strict implementation of preventive measures already notified to contain the pandemic adding that the situation would be monitored regularly and if required the government would go for more restrictions during the next couple of weeks. While appreciating the performance of certain district administrations in achieving the desired target of corona vaccination in their respective districts, Mahmood Khan said that the district administration with satisfactory performance with regard to COVID Vaccinations would be awarded appreciation certificates.