Govt to track, seal virus hotspot areas with help of technology: Asad Umar

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said on Sunday that virus “hotspots” are now being identified through the latest data and technology and govt will seal Covid-19 affected areas to curb the spread of the disease, ARY News reported.

Briefing media on the measures the government has so far taken to tackle the pandemic, he said the government will implement “smart lockdown” and will seal areas that have been identified as the “hotspots” of the coronavirus.

“The number of coronavirus cases is increasing in Pakistan and most Covid-19 cases have been reported from Karachi. Cases are also increasing in Lahore, Quetta and Peshawar. All virus hotspot areas will be sealed across the country to contain the spread of coronavirus,” he added.

He repeated that the government could not impose an indefinite lockdown as it would have had a devastating effect on the low-income class.

The planning minister said that at least 359 areas have been under smart lockdown in Punjab and 177 areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). Asad Umar appreciated the Punjab government for taking a lead in developing an application that could update the health officials with real-time data.

He further said that govt was striving to increase coronavirus testing capacity. “We conducted 13,500 coronavirus tests during the past 24 hours.”

He said there are now 70 labs fully equipped to carry out coronavirus tests. Currently, there are 85 people on the ventilators and 165 on oxygen, he added.

Planning Minister Asad Umar has expressed satisfaction that the people have acted with responsibility but they now need to more strictly follow the precautionary measures after the easing of restrictions.

He urged people to continue taking preventive measures.

The tally of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country has jumped to 29, 465 with 1,991 new cases reported during the past 24 hours in the country.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre, 11,093 cases have so far been detected in Punjab, 10,771 in Sindh, 4,509 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1,935 in Balochistan, 430 in Gilgit Baltistan, 641 in Islamabad and 86 in Azad Kashmir.

Moreover, 8,023 patients have so far recovered from the virus while 20,803 patients are still going through the treatment process.