500 Covid-19 hotspots identified: Zafar.

ISLAMABAD -- Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza on Monday said that more than 500 areas had been identified across the country where cases of the novel coronavirus were increasing rapidly.

The country reported 3,708 Covid-19 cases and 71 deaths over the past 24 hours, taking the national tally of cases to183,300 and casualties to3,628.

Briefing a meeting of the National Assembly`s Standing Committee on National Health Services presided over by MNA Khalid Hussain Magsi at the National Institute of Health here, Dr Mirza said the government had developed standard operating procedures (SOPs) to stop the spread of Covid-19 under the National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) and ensure their enforcement through local administrations.

He said that due to the current economic situation it was impossible to implement a complete lockdown across the country; however, the government was focusing on a smart lockdown policy under which more than 500 areas had been identified where the number of Covid-19 cases was increasing day by day.

The SAPM informed the committee that 1,000 ventilators would reach the country by the end of this month to facilitate the critical coronavirus patients, while 5,000 health workers had been trained to meet the emergency situation.

Opposition members of the committee, including Dr Nisar Ahmad Cheema, Dr Shazia Sobia, criticised the government`s policies and asked why the government was unable to follow the SOPs prepared by the World Health Organisation to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

The committee also expressed concern over non-availably of oxygenfor the parliamentarians affected by Covid-19 in Parliament Lodges.

561patients onvents According to data released by the NCOC, 561 ventilators are occupied across the country. However, there is no patient on vents in Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

More than 6,862 violations of health guidelines/instructions were observed across the country during the last 24 hours due to which over 880 markets/ shops and six industrial units were sealed and 1,229 transporters were fined.

Meanwhile, an...

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