After emergence of new Covid-19 variant, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) in Pakistan has decided to bring back Covid testing at points of entry throughout the country.

In a notification, the NCOC said it was ‘vigilantly’ observing the surge in Covid-19 cases across the world and has decided to take measures to prevent its spread in Pakistan.

For this purpose, the NCOC has mandated screening of 2% of all arrivals into the country. Authorities have been told to maintain vigilance at all points of entry.

Earlier, the National Institute of Health had clarified that although Omnicrone and JN-1 variants of covid-19 had been reported across the world but no cases have been reported in Pakistan so far.

NIH had advised the use of masks to stop the spread of influenza. Provinces had also been advised to increase testing.

Reporter Babar Shahzad Turk