Nausheen Stresses To Follow SOPs To Combat COVID-19

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Oct, 2020 ) :Parliamentary Secretary, National Health Services Regulations and Coordination Nausheen Hamid Thursday urged citizens to follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) against COVID-19 to combat the virus.

Talking to private news channel, she said the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) is closely monitoring the situation and if there is no improvement in SOPs compliance observed, NCOC will have no choice but to revert to strict measures leading to re-imposed of smart lockdown, fines and arrests of people who are violating social distancing rules.

She said NCOC has issued a strict warning to all the residents to strictly follow the rules of social distancing and wear face masks as the country's number of cases continued to increase.

Nausheen said it is unfortunate people have stopped wearing masks in all public places, especially markets, offices, restaurants," adding, it was an act of extreme selfishness not to wear masks as it endangered not only "yourself but also your family, associates, workers and everyone you come into contact with".

While expressing concern over the increasing number of corona cases in Second wave, she advised the general public to realize the sensitivity of the issue and strictly adhere to the precautionary measures and standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the government in order to contain the mass scale outbreak of the corona pandemic.

She made an appeal to the public to behave in a responsible manner and to strictly follow the precautionary measure in order to make themselves and others safe from the virus.

Replying a Question, she details regarding plans to slow down the spread of the coronavirus, ramp up healthcare facilities, make required legislation such as the National Health Emergency Response Act, media campaigns and awareness, capacity building for healthcare workers and financial resources were also shared.

She said to strengthen NHI more strong and to bring all state institutions on same page the national health services ministry has drafted the 'National Health Emergency Response Bill 2020'.

"Once the bill is passed by parliament, we will be able to implement this act", she added.

The NHSC will approve national policies on health security, which require coordination among the Centre and the provinces.

The key features of the proposed law include, health emergency response, regulating screening, testing and mobility restrictions during health emergency, preparedness and response, disease surveillance and data collection and mitigation and intervention strategies, she explained.

She adds, the National Health Emergency Response Act, 2020 will propose several tiers of emergency response to ensure response and management of a health emergency in a coordinated manner.