National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) chief Asad Umar (left) and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan addressing a press conference in Islamabad on January 5, 2021. — YouTube

A meeting of all the health and education ministers is currently underway at the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) to review the COVID-19 situation in the country and take decisions to curb the virus spread.

The forum is discussing the  implementation of SOPs at the educational institutes, wedding halls, markets and other public places in view of  a sharp rise in infections across Pakistan, especially in Karachi where the positivity ratio topped 40% on Sunday.

On Saturday, the NCOC had summoned the meeting today after reviewing the epidemic curve chart data, disease prevalence, and proposed non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs).

The forum had asked the ministers to suggest a new set of NPIs focusing on the education sector, public gatherings, marriage ceremonies, indoor/outdoor dining, and the transport sector.

The NCOC had decided to extensively engage with provinces, especially with the Sindh government for necessary measures to tackle the rising disease.

The apex COVID-19 body had also decided to implement a complete ban on in-flight serving of meals/snacks from January 17 and the Civil Aviation Authority was asked to ensure in-flight mask-wearing and also implement SOPs at all the airports.

Serving of meals and snacks in public transport will also be banned with effect from January 17.

The forum had asked federating units to take strict measures against violators of SOPs especially mask-wearing and to ensure enforcement of obligatory vaccination regime.

It had directed all the quarters to accelerate the ongoing vaccination drive and ramp up efforts to achieve vaccination targets.