The National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) was informed on Saturday that smart lockdowns had been enforced in 1,292 locations across the country in the last 24 hours to prevent further spread of Covid-19.

The forum, which acts as the nerve center of the country’s overall efforts to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, heard that a total of 308,600 people now remain under the restrictions in different parts of the country.

A total of 10 localities in the Islamabad Capital Territory (IKT), with a population of 60,000, were put under smart lockdown, the forum was told. The smart cordons had been enforced in 844 localities in Punjab, trapping 15,200 people.

Similarly, the lockdown had been imposed in 414 localities in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with a population of 11,000, seven localities in Sindh with a population of 7,000, 12 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and five areas in Gilgit-Baltistan.

It was also informed that the federal and provincial authorities were ensuring compliance with the health guidelines and instructions, particularly with regard to workplaces, the industrial sector, transport, markets and shops, in addition to pursuing the trace, trace and quarantine (TTQ) strategy.

The NCOC meeting, chaired by Planning Minister Asad Umar, was also informed that over 13,116 violations of health guidelines were observed across the country during the last 24 hours and punitive action was taken against 1,541 markets and shops, 33 industrial units and 1,429 vehicles .

Later, NCOC released details of ventilators and bed availability for Covid-19 patients across the country. According to a statement, 379 beds, 68 oxygenated beds and 43 ventilators were available in AJK. Although there was no patient in the ventilator there.

In Balochistan, 2,148 beds, 262 oxygenated beds and 36 ventilators were available for the virus patients. It said no Covid-19 patient in the province was on a ventilator. There were 151 beds, 43 oxygenated beds, 28 ventilators available in Gilgit where one patient was on ventilator.

Islamabad had 514 beds, 262 oxygenated beds, 90 ventilators while 18 patients were on ventilators, NCOC said, adding that 4,856 beds, 1,081 oxygenated beds and 340 ventilators were available in KP, where 85 patients were on ventilators.

In the most affected provinces, 9,276 beds, 3,500 oxygen beds and 387 ventilators were available in Punjab, where 233 patients were on ventilators, while 8,274 beds, 739 oxygen beds and 368 ventilators were available in Sindh, where 83 patients were on ventilators.

50,000 cases

Punjab and Sindh, two of the most populous provinces in the country, each crossed the grim mark of 50,000 coronavirus cases on Saturday as the country endured another day of over 6,000 new infections amid a record surge in the pandemic.

Over the past 24 hours, each of the two provinces has recorded more than 2,000 new cases. According to the official data released on Saturday morning, the number of recoveries also crossed 50,000. But as the day progressed, more Covid-19 positive cases were confirmed.

At midnight, the nationwide number of Covid-19 patients stood at 135,943 with 50,087 cases in Punjab, 51,518 in Sindh, 17,450 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 8,028 in Balochistan, 1,093 in Gilgit, 4,1 and 6. Azad Jammu and Kashmir . The virus has so far claimed at least 2,597 lives.

The NCOC said around 839,019 people had been tested so far, with nearly 30,000 tests carried out in the past 24 hours. The data showed that the death rate in confirmed cases also increased to 2%, from 1.7% previously, while recovery also increased from 20% to 32%.

Spread among medical personnel

According to the data, 3,858 healthcare workers treating virus patients have also fallen victim to this pandemic. The disease has so far claimed the lives of 36 health workers – 14 in Sindh, 7 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 5 in Balochistan, 6 in Punjab, 2 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 2 in Islamabad.

According to the report, healthcare workers affected by the coronavirus included 2,327 doctors, 476 nurses and 1,055 other staff. Among them, 266 health workers are being treated in various hospitals, including 3 on ventilator due to their critical condition. Over 1,450 have recovered so far.

(WITH INPUT FROM APP)