Virus’ health, socio-economic impact be managed: Bajwa

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has emphasised the need for managing the “trinity of health crisis, economic slide and psycho-social impact” through efficient resource management, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a press release.

The Army chief made the remarks while visiting the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday, where he was received by Lt-Gen Hamood Uz Zaman Khan, Commander of the Army Air Defence Command and National Coordinator of the NCOC.

Gen Bajwa was briefed in detail by NCOC Operations and Planning DG Maj-Gen Asif Mehmood Goraya, about Covid-19 related multi-sectoral situation, implementation of National Coordination Committee decisions,

projections about the likely spread of the disease in Pakistan and support being extended to the civil administration against pandemic.

The Army chief was also apprised of national strategy for test, trace and quarantine (TTQ) aimed at identifying disease spread, focused clusters or hotspots to enable targeted lockdowns and need driven resource optimisation at all levels.

Gen Bajwa lauded remarkable efforts of NCOC for formulating and implementing Covid-19 response despite resource and time constraints.

While complimenting civil-military components of NCOC, Gen Bajwa emphasised the need for stratified risk assessment, managing trinity of health crisis, economic slide and 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 Ramadan,” the Army chief concluded.