Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday ordered the restoration of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) after Pakistan reported the first case of Omicron sub-variant BA.2.12.1.
The NCOC was established in March 2020 by the PTI-led government to oversee its response to the coronavirus pandemic. It was dissolved by the PTI government last month after Covid cases in the country subsided.
A day ago, the National Institute of Health (NIH) had revealed that the first case of the new variant has been detected in the country.
On Tuesday, the PM took notice of the new variant and its growing cases, and sought a report from the NIH over the current Covid-19 situation.
According to the NIH data, 64 new cases of the virus were reported across the country in the last 24 hours and their positivity rate was 0.49 per cent. As many as 92 patients were receiving critical care.
The new Omicron sub-variant is a descendant of the earlier super-contagious “stealth Omicron” and has quickly gained ground in the US.
BA.2.12.1 was responsible for 29 per cent of new US Covid-19 infections in April’s third week, according to data reported by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. And it caused 58 per cent of reported infections in the New York region.
The variant has been detected in at least 13 other countries, but the US has the highest levels of it so far. Scientists say it spreads even faster than stealth Omicron.
It is pertinent to mention here that the NCOC and Pakistan’s Covid-19 pandemic response has been lauded since the day the virus was first reported in the country.
Earlier in March, a report prepared by the United Nations Development Programme placed Pakistan among the countries that have done fairly well in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. It noted that on March 23, 2022, the cost of vaccinating 40 per cent of the population in Pakistan was 13.95 per cent of the country’s current health expenditure.
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