Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Sunday said that the government will use technology to trace coronavirus cases and identify virus hotspots throughout the country to enforce a "smart lockdown".

Speaking to reporters at the National Command and Operation Centre in Islamabad, Umar said that according to available data, Punjab was enforcing smart lockdown in some 169 areas while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was enforcing smart lockdown in 177 areas. "This could be a big area or as small as one street," he said.

Umar added that the government has completed work on a portal where data will be collected from all 424 hospitals dealing with coronavirus patients in the country. "Hospitals have already started entering their data. Through this portal we will be able to know the exact number of beds, ventilators and patients in each hospital."

Read: Army to help govt adopt ‘test, trace and quarantine’ strategy

The minister added that the government was also working on a mobile application which people could download for getting information about hospitals and coronavirus facilities. "If someone tests positive [for the virus], they can consult the app to find the nearest hospital that has facilities."

Umar said that this was being done for optimal utilisation of resources. "Through this app, we will be able to avoid a scenario where hospitals do have facilities but the patient is unable to reach them because he does not know where to go," he said, adding that the portal and the app both would go live in the next few days.

He added that the government had engaged with the Rural Support Programme Network who he said had access to more than 25 per cent of the population. "Not only will we communicate awareness messages through them, they will also identify places where we need to send food etc," he said.

Umar noted that some people have stopped sharing their coronavirus symptoms or that they have tested positive over the fear that they would be taken to quarantine centres. He clarified that this was not necessarily the case and the government had issued a notification in this regard, saying that people who have the facility to isolate at home should be allowed to do so.

He urged people to continue taking preventive measures as it was "more important now than ever".

He hailed the services of healthcare professionals, rescue workers, cleaners and other frontline workers and said that it was the responsibility of every citizen to follow precautions so that the virus spread would not get out of control.