NCOC identifies 20 cities across Pakistan with Covid-19 hotspots.

ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on Monday, in line with the Prime Minister's announcement of containment of Covid-19 through smart lockdown strategy, undertook a comprehensive review of potential virus clusters and hotspots across Pakistan.

"A total of 20 cities across Pakistan have been identified as having likely increase in ratio or speed of infection which needs restrictive measures for containment of Covid-19. The same is being shared with provinces by the NCOC," the forum was apprised during a meeting chaired by Minister for Planning Development Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar here.

In Islamabad, G-9/2 and G-9/3 have more than 300 cases and have already been sealed along with Karachi Company whereas the new hotspots in Islamabad which are being monitored and might be sealed include I-8, I-10, Ghauri Town, Bharakhau, G-6 and G-7 sectors.

Various cities which have registered increase in infection cases and have been identified by the NCOC for necessary restrictive measures include Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranawala, Swat, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Sialkot, Gujarat, Ghotki, Larkana, Khairpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Malakand and Mardan.

It may be mentioned here that test, track and quarantine (TTQ) strategy is aimed at identifying disease spread, focused clusters and hotspots to enable targeted lockdowns and need-driven resource optimisation at all levels. The TTQ strategy has been formulated to keep spread of the disease in check while different sectors open up. The strategy involves ramping up of testing, rapidly tracing the contacts of confirmed positive cases, and effective quarantining of positive and suspected cases.

The NCOC was briefed in detail about operationalisation of additional oxygenated beds and vents including procurement of these critical healthcare equipment by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as...