ISLAMABAD: In the wake of threat posed by the new BF.7 Omicron variant of Covid-19, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Monday instructed National Institute of Health (NIH) to issue precautionary advisories for educational institutes, social gatherings and conduct weekly media briefings.

In a related development, vaccination and screening test of pedestrians has been started at Torkham border on a daily basis, officials said.

The decisions were taken at a review session, which was presided over by NDMA Chairman Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik, held with a team of NIH and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Covid-19 situation and surveillance mechanisms at airports in the wake of the threat posed by the new variant of Covid-19.

According to a statement, NIH showed detailed statistics on Covid-19 management and vaccination administration data in Pakistan. It was briefed that Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests of inbound passengers had been conducted at all airports of country as per policy in vogue.

NIH officials told the forum that vaccination and screening test of pedestrians were being executed at Torkham border on a daily basis.

The CAA said efficient system with a proper management team was fully functional at airports to remain vigilant and related logistic arrangements had been made to deal with any sub-variant of Covid-19.

The NDMA chairman expressed confidence in strategies and national preparedness regime against Covid-19. However, he instructed the NIH to issue precautionary advisories for educational institutes, social gatherings and communities and conduct a weekly media briefing to sensitise stakeholders and public.

He called for continuous monitoring of global spread and behaviour of sub-variant, and measures undertaken by other countries accordingly to counter the strain.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2023