NCOC did not recommend lockdown in Sindh, says Asad Umar

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said on Sunday that National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) did not recommend the imposition of lockdown in Sindh, ARY News reported.

Asad Umar was referring to the statement of Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah who on a private news channel had said that lockdown was imposed in Sindh by taking NCOC into confidence.

The NCOC head, in a statement, said the notification issued by the provincial government regarding new restrictions under lockdown was different from the one CM Murad shared with NCOC.

“NCOC never recommended a ban on public transport and lockdown in Sindh,” the minister said, adding that the forum had also stopped the Punjab government from imposing lockdown in Lahore during the third Covid-19 wave.

Earlier in the day, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Sunday indicated that to control the spread of the Indian variant of COVID-19, the government might impose restrictions in selected sectors of the country’s urban centers.

The decision in this regard, he said would be made in a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday (August 02).

Pakistan sets records of COVID vaccinations as 30mn jabbed: Asad Umar

“We are planning targeted restrictions with coordinated plans so that people are least troubled,” said Asad Umar while noting that Pakistan has fended off Covid carnage that has wreaked havoc in the other regional countries.

He urged the people to get vaccinated as the rate of occupied beds in the medical facilities across Karachi has already reached 55 per cent.