Today, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) identified 20 cities across Pakistan for having potential COVID-19 hotspots and clusters.

—File Photo

NCOC, the nerve center to synergize and articulate unified national effort against COVID-19, released a statement in which they identified cities across the country with having COVID-19 hotspots using a strategy termed as 'testing, tracing and quarantining (TTQ)'.

NCOC which is headed by Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar, identified the following 20 cities for the enforcement of "necessary restrictive measures".

1- Karachi
2- Lahore
3- Quetta
4- Peshawar
5- Rawalpindi
6- Islamabad
7- Faisalabad
8- Multan
9- Gujranwala
10- Swat
11- Hyderabad
12- Sukkur
13- Sialkot
14- Gujarat
15- Ghotki
16- Larkana
17- Khairpur
18- Dera Ghazi Khan
19- Malakand
20- Mardan

The TTQ method is aimed at identifying the spread of the disease by focusing on hotspots to enable targeted lockdowns and need-driven resource optimization at all levels.

According to the press release of the center:

“TTQ strategy involves ramping up testing, rapidly tracing the contacts of confirmed positive cases, and effective quarantining of positive and suspected cases. It has been formulated to keep the spread of novel coronavirus in check as different sectors of the economy are being reopened."