ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad on Sunday said that the Interior Ministry has issued a notification regarding acquiring Pakistan Army’s services for implementing corona-related restrictions and SOPs and combating OCIVD-19.

In an important video announcement regarding the deployment of the Pakistan Army and the Civil Armed Forces to assist the civilian governments against the COVID-19 pandemic, Sheikh Rasheed said a notification has been issued in this regard.

“The Army will provide services in Gilgit Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Punjab. However, Sindh province is not yet included in the list,” says the interior minister.

Sheikh Rasheed said that Pakistan Army had always served the country in earthquakes, floods and now army men are being deployed in all provinces except Sindh to implement corona-related SOPs. A day ago, personnel of the Pakistan Army started patrolling roads and markets in the federal capital Islamabad.

The troops accompanied the Islamabad police personnel to different markets of the city after Prime Minister Imran Khan called in the Army to have the coronavirus SOPs enforced in letter and spirit.

The teams took action against those violating the standard operating procedures developed by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

Earlier on Sunday morning, Army soldiers were also deployed in a number of police stations in Peshawar to help assist the police in enforcing the Covid guidelines. Also on Sunday, the Sindh government wrote a letter to the Interior Ministry seeking Army’s assistance.

However, Sheikh Rasheed’s video message clearly states that Sindh has not yet been included in the list of areas where the army troops can be deployed. The interior minister gave no reasons for the government’s decision.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 5,611 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths and cases followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Till now 7,964 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab 4,593 in Sindh, 3,103 in KP, 660 in Islamabad, 461 in Azad Kashmir, 232 in Balochistan, and 104 in GB.

Furthermore 288,598 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Punjab, 277,593 in Sindh, 113,121 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 72,981 in Islamabad, 21,618 in Balochistan, 16,463 in Azad Kashmir and 5,253 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Pakistan has so far conducted 11,538,771 coronavirus tests and 55,128 in the last 24 hours. 689,812 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 4,826 patients are in critical condition. NNI