PESHAWAR: A meeting of the provincial task force on covid-19 was held here at Chief Minister Secretariat Peshawar on Wednesday with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan in the chair. Provincial Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Special Assistant to CM on Information Kamran Khan Bangash, Corps Commander Peshawar Lt. Gen. Noman Mahmood, Chief Secretary Dr. Kazim Niaz, Inspector General of Police Dr. Sana Ullah Abbasi and other relevant Civil and Military high ups attended the meeting. The meeting reviewed in detailed the latest situation of the second wave of Corona Virus across the province, arrangements and preparation made by the concerned departments to contain the possible outbreak of the virus, the existing capacity of hospitals to deal with any emergency situation and other relevant matters. Briefing the meeting about the latest situation of corona, it was told that second wave of corona virus had started in the province adding that increasing number of positive corona cases were being reported in various parts in Upper and Lower Chitral Districts and some parts of Hazara Division. It was also told that new cases of corona virus were being reported in various educational institutions of the province. The forum while expressing its concern over the rise of cases in Chitral district, directed the secretary health to immediately visit the district and take necessary steps on war footings for the capacity building of public sector hospitals in the district and increase testing capacity at local level in order to effectively deal with any emergency situations. After discussing the option of announcing early winter vacations in education institutions specially in winter zones to contain the possible spread of the virus, the forum directed the education department to work out the matter and come up with feasible proposals for any decision to this effect. In the light of the decisions of National Command and Operation Center the meeting decided to ensure strict implementation of wearing of face masks in public places, closure of amusement parks at 6:00 pm and closure of wedding halls, restaurants, and markets at 10:00 pm. The health department was directed to identify hotspots across the province and communicate the same to the district administrations for implementing smart lockdown strategy to contain the pandemic. The meeting highly stressed the importance of public awareness to contain the possible outbreak of covid-19 directed the information department to chalk out a media plan for a mass scale public awareness campaign through all the mediums of mass communication. The health department was also directed to take necessary steps well in time to ensure the availability of testing kits and personal protective equipments in all the hospitals
Briefing the forum about the latest situation of corona cases in the province, it was informed that number of active cases across the province was 804, whereas district with highest number of active cases per million populations include Chitral upper, Chitral lower, Mansehra, Abbottabad and Peshawar. About the testing capacity it was told that at present the overall testing capacity is 4000 tests per day which can be increased if and when required. The forum agreed to take all the required steps keeping in view the peculiar context of the province to keep the masses safe from the virus.
In this address to the participants of the meeting, the chief minister termed the safety of the masses as the foremost responsibility of his government and said that all the available resources would be utilized to this end. He directed the concerned quarters to focus special attention on the areas and pockets where corona cases are on the rise. The chief minister urged upon the public to strictly follow precautionary to keep themselves and other safe from the pandemic.
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