The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Monday conducted a review of the prevailing coronavirus situation with a particular focus on “evolving Covid variants” and directed the National Institute of Health (NIH) to review the stocks of vaccines and arrangements in hospitals to deal with virus cases.

According to CBS News, China is experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases due to a strain that is a sub-variant of the highly infectious Omicron variant: BF.7 or BA.5.2.1.7.

NDMA Chairman Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik presided a special session of the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC) today that focused on “evolving Covid variants and expressed confidence in Pakistan’s current strategies and national preparedness”.

The NDMA said the situation will be continuously monitored by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and “preparedness, preventative protocols and vaccination administration system will be strengthened to tackle spike in concern.”

A press release from the NDMA said that an NIH team briefed the meeting’s participants on the “updated monitoring of regional trends of the new coronavirus variant and trajectories development for Pakistan without creating undue alarm”.

The NDMA chief directed the NCOC and NIH to “issue a precautionary Covid variant risk advisory for the public and relevant stakeholders based on scientific analysis of data at the global and regional level and carry out selective mock drills for Covid emergency”.

The press release highlighted that the “NCOC showed detailed statistics on Covid management, vaccination administration data and low risk of a new variant in Pakistan.”

The NIH officials also informed the meeting’s participants that the current Covid positivity rate stood at 0.53 per cent and 95pc of the eligible population was inoculated with the first and 90pc with the second dose of vaccines.

The press release added that Lt Gen Malik “apprised the participants of the prime minister’s vision on the establishment of National Preparedness and Response System in the country.”

“He also explained the expansion plan for NEOC and making it live interfaced with all departments to remodel the country’s emergency response from a reactive to a proactive mode for disaster management.”

Regarding the Covid situation in the country, Dawn reported that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department recently asked employees of public sector hospitals to get fully vaccinated against the infectious disease.

As new variants of the coronavirus spread at a rapid pace in parts of the globe, including India, China, and the United States, health authorities in Pakistan seem to be ill-prepared to stop the arrival of the virus in the country.

Even though the NCOC claimed that the situation was being closely monitored, there have been no measures at airports, such as rapid testing and screening of inbound travellers, to detect positive cases of Covid.

NCOC member Dr Shahzad Ali Khan had said the Centre was regularly holding its meetings. He had added that it was yet to be seen how new variants would behave in Pakistan since “viruses behave differently in different environments”.

Briefing on weather outlook

Towards the end of the NDMA meeting, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) also briefed the forum on the weather outlook for this winter season.

“Representatives of the National Information Technology Board (NITB) informed NEOC about the current status of registration of flood-affected farmers on digital application and their ongoing verification process to provide relief assistance,” the NDMA press release reads.

Representatives of food security, railways, and information ministries, PMD, Federal Flood Commission, National Highway Authority, provincial health departments, and NITB attended the session.