COAS directs Army to provide 'comfort' to people in Ramazan amid coronavirus crisis

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa directed the Pakistan Army to collaborate with national institutions and take all possible measures to bring comfort to the nation in the challenging times, particularly during Ramazan, a statement from the media's military issued Wednesday read.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Gen Bajwa visited the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) and lauded its efforts in forming and implementing Pakistan's response to the coronavirus pandemic 'despite resource and time constraints'.

The army chief complimented the NCOC's "civil-military components" and emphasised on "the need for stratified risk assessment, managing trinity of health crisis, economic slide & psycho-social impact through efficient resource management".

"Pakistan Army in collaboration with other national institutions should take all possible measures to bring comfort to the nation in these challenging times particularly during Ramazan," the COAS said, according to the statement.

The Army chief made these comments during a visit to the NCOC where its National Coordinator and Commander Army Air Defence Command, Lt Gen Hamood Uz Zaman Khan received him.

The director-general of operations and planning at the NCOC, Maj Gen Asif Mehmood Goraya, briefed him in detail "about COVID-19-related multi-sectoral situation, implementation of NCC decisions, projections about likely spread of the disease in Pakistan, and support being extended to civil administration against pandemic".

The COAS was also apprised about "national strategy for test, trace, and quarantine (TTQ) aimed at identifying disease spread, focused clusters / hotspots to enable targeted lockdowns, and need-driven resource optimisation at all levels", the ISPR added.