NCOC to be closed soon amid drop in COVID-19 positivity rate: Faisal Sultan

ISLAMABAD: As the government’s effective measures are bearing fruit and the COVID-19 positivity rate has dropped below 2%, the government has decided to close down the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) soon, revealed Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan Saturday.

Pakistan reported 1.54% positivity rate as of Saturday.

NCOC was established by the government as a nerve centre to synergise and articulate a unified national effort against COVID-19, and to implement the decisions of the National Coordination Committee in 2020 when the deadly virus started spreading globally.

According to Dr Faisal Sultan, the prime minister is expected to formally announce the shutting down of the NCOC by the end of next month.

He said that the responsibilities of the NCOC will be carried out by the National Institute of Health.

A monument will be installed to celebrate the success of the country in its fight against coronavirus in the last two years. According to the Health Ministry, March 27 will mark the 2nd anniversary of the establishment of the NCOC.

What is the NCOC?

The National Disaster Management Authority spearheaded the initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

But on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the NCOC was established in April 2020 to collect, analyse, and process COVID-19-related data from all provinces, AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Islamabad.

The NCOC is the main entity in charge of Pakistan's national COVID-19 effort's policies and implementation.

It also makes suggestions to the Prime Minister's National Coordination Committee (NCC) for timely actions related to the national COVID-19 response effort.

The NCOC includes specialists from both the civic and military sectors of Pakistan.