Decisions on COVID-19 taken after consultation at NCOC: Shibli Faraz.

ISLAMABAD -- Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz on Tuesday said that the government has devised a policy to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic keeping in view the ground realities, media reported.

Addressing a presser to brief on cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan before leaving for Karachi, the information minister said that the virus has affected the country's economy and any decision to deal with the pandemic was taken after consultation at National Command Operation Centre (NCOC) and other concerned forums.

'When the virus cases started emerging in the country, we had only two testing laboratories,' he said while claiming that they had increased the testing facilities and availability of ventilators to a great extent since then.

While reiterating the federal government's policy, he said the country could not afford a complete lockdown.

Shibli Faraz blamed that the virus situation has worsened after people failed to implement standard operating procedures (SOPs) during Eid prayers, leading to a surge in COVID-19 deaths across the country.

'This could have been avoided if SOPs were implemented properly,' he said...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT