Apex Committee agrees to chalk out strategy to curb 2nd wave

LAHORE:A special meeting of the Apex Committee was held under the chair of Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar at his office here Thursday.

Lahore Corps Commander Lt-Gen Majid Ehsan, General Officer Commanding 10-Div Maj-Gen Muhammad Aniq-ur-Rehman Malik, DG Rangers Punjab Maj-Gen Muhammad Amir Majeed and higher ranking military officials attended the meeting.

Provincial Law Minister Raja Basharat, Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid, Special Assistant for Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Chief Secretary Jawad Rafiq Malik, IG Police Inam Ghani, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Additional Chief Secretary Higher Education, Secretary Specialised Healthcare & Medical Education, Secretary Primary & Secondary Health, Secretary Schools Education, Secretary Information, medical experts, head of Special Monitoring Unit and the officers concerned were also present.

The meeting reviewed in detail the measures taken to overcome the COVID-19 second wave. The participants expressed concern over the increasing number of patients and the death rate. The political and military leadership of the province decided to take effective measures and make collective efforts to cope with the virus.

The meeting agreed to chalk out effective strategy in advance, keeping in view possible future situation with regard to the virus. The meeting also decided strict implementation of wearing face masks as violation of SOPs would not be tolerated. It was decided to run an effective public awareness campaign and all necessary arrangements and strategy will be finalised before the start of winter season. It recommended that the people coming from abroad, especially from India be kept in quarantine and ban political, social, cultural and religious gatherings.

Similarly, it was recommended to restrict the number of invitees for marriages at open places. The meeting dilated on the proposal to reserve some hospitals especially from southern Punjab for corona as well as starting winter holidays in education institutions.

Lahore Corps Commander Lt-Gen Majid Ehsan asserted to extend all possible cooperation with the Punjab government. Pakistan armed forces assured their full support to the government as corona is a national challenge. Pakistan Army is standing with the government to make people's lives safer and ready to tackle the COVID-19 through collective efforts, he added.

Usman Buzdar said that public support was utmost necessary to deal with the virus. The government will continue to take steps for protecting the citizens’ lives. The people have to show responsibility in this situation. The more precautionary measures people take the safer they will be, the CM added. The final decision will be taken by the technical team after reviewing all the recommendations. The government will ensure the implementation of the decision taken by technical team. The government will work more efficiently for safeguarding the citizens’ lives. He said that Pak Army always supported the nation in its time of trial. The chief minister thanked the military leadership for their cooperation to deal with the pandemic. The medical experts gave recommendations to stop the virus spread in the province.