Coronavirus to hit peak by July in Pakistan: Chairman NDMA

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has appealed to Pakistanis to follow SOPs in order to minimize the spread of the coronavirus, and alluded that the virus may be at its peak in early July.

In an exclusive interview with Dunya News program "Dunya Kamran Khan kay Saath", he said that NDMA compiles projections for the next month based on new data every day and so far, the situation is close to what the models had predicted. He said that subsequent modifications in the projections are made according to new data that comes in.

He appealed to the public to follow the SOPs related to coronavirus saying that we can overcome this virus by ensuring social distancing and wearing face masks.

Answering a question, he said that out of 12,000 ICU beds in Pakistan’s private sector, 9,500 are currently vacant. But, the problem is that hospitals under the provinces are not being managed properly. He said that a committee will soon be formed to monitor the facilities in hospitals in collaboration with the provinces.

The Chairman said that there was a collective attitude of non-compliance with the law in Pakistani society. Implementing SOPs in mosques was done with great difficulty and the government is constantly telling people to take precautions and wear masks. He said the coronavirus is not going away any time soon, all we can do is take precautionary measures against it and try to live with it.