RAWALPINDI, Apr 26 (APP):Director General of Inter Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar Monday announced that the Pakistan Army had decided not to claim any internal security allowance during its deployment to assist the civil administration in the implementation of anti-COVID SOPs across the country as it did earlier.
Addressing a news conference, he said he was there to brief the media about the deployment of Pakistan Army to assist the civilian administration during the third wave of coronavirus.
Major General Babar said the civil administration was primarily responsible for enforcing the standard operating procedures (SOPs) or safety measures against the COVID-19, and maintaining law and order.
“The Pakistan Army will provide full support to other law enforcement agencies as an emergency responder,” he added.
The ISPR DG said the third wave of coronavirus was currently surging in the country, which was proving far more dangerous and deadly than the first two ones.
“The whole world, and especially our region, is being hit hard by this contagion,” he added.
Mortality, he said, was also on the rise due to the severity and rapid spread of the epidemic. “The huge increase in the number of critical care patients is putting increasing pressure on the healthcare system,” he added.
In view of the deteriorating situation of the pandemic, in accordance with the orders of the Federal Government for the protection of the people and public health, the Pakistan Army was called upon to assist the civil administration across the country under Article 245, he added.
“The trust of the nation is the asset of the Pakistan Armed Forces,” the ISPR DG remarked.
He said in the hour of ordeal, the Pakistan Army would use all its capabilities to take all possible steps for the health of the people, and ensure their safety by reaching out to every corner of the country.
He said the health sector currently was allocated more than 75 per cent of the country’s total oxygen production. “If the current coronavirus situation persists, the oxygen allocated to the industrial sector may have to be dedicated to the health sector,” he added.
He said currently there were 89,219 active COVID active cases in the country.
“The COVID positivity ratio has risen to dangerous levels. It is more than 5% in 51 cities across the country,” he underscored.
Except Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), he said, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Peshawar, Mardan, Nowshera, Charsadda and Swabi were among the major cities with higher positivity ratio.
Similarly in Punjab, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur, Gujranwala, Karachi and Hyderabad in Sindh, Quetta in Balochistan and Muzaffarabad in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in particular had been severely affected by the pandemic as the positivity ratio was increasing in those areas, he added.
The enhanced deployment of Pakistan Army had been done in the above mentioned 16 cities, he added.
April 23, he said, was the deadliest day ever as death toll was the highest where 157 people lost their lives due to the coronavirus.
At present some 4,300 COVID patients were in critical condition while 570 were on ventilators across the country, he added. Over 90 percent ventilators were occupied in some cities of the country, he said.
The DG ISPR said,”The average death rate from the coronavirus in April was the highest.”
Since February 26, 2020, he said,17,187 people had died due to the pandemic. “At present, the global case fatality rate (CFR) due to the coronavirus is 2.12 per cent, while during this pandemic wave, the CFR in Pakistan has increased to 2.16 per cent for the first time as compared to the world.”
He mentioned that an important meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) was held on April 23 under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan in which Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa was also present.
With the consultation and mutual consent of all the stakeholders, he said, the NCC had taken some important and timely decisions regarding non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs or alternate measures to treat the disease other than medical treatment) to control the third wave of coronavirus pandemic.
The army troops, he said, had reached at district level across the country since 6 am Monday to assist the civil administration.
Under Article 245, a team each, headed by officers of Brigadier rank, had been deployed at the level of Administrative Divisions across the country, the DG ISPR explained.
“At each district level, the army troops, led by Lieutenant Colonel, will assist the civil administration. The main purpose of deploying Pakistan Army troops is to support the civilian government and law enforcement agencies (LEAs),” he said.
As regards the enforcement mechanism, he said the meeting of all the Provincial Apex Committees would be held once in a week in which the overall situation would be reviewed, especially the high positivity ratio areas.
The implementation of precautionary measures was an effective response to the pandemic stemming its outrageous spread, he added.
“We must all work together individually and collectively to ensure the health and safety of the people,” the DG ISPR urged the nation.
“We can be safe from this contagion only by following the safety guidelines regarding the use of face mask and social distancing,” he said.
The blessed month of Ramazan, he said, “teaches us compassion and discipline. We can remedy each other’s problems by ensuring safety measures in homes, mosques and all other places.”
The DG ISPR said the cooperation and sense of responsibility of the people since the beginning of the pandemic had protected the nation from its most dangerous harms as compared to other countries and still as a nation “we have to show more caution and responsibility than ever before”.
He urged the masses to show compassion towards the people around them during the month of Ramazan.
He concluded the talk praying to The Almighty to protect everyone from the pandemic.”May Allah Almighty grant success to all those who are engaged in saving the lives of others without caring for their own lives. Ameen.”
