(Islamabad: 19th March, 2020): Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is supporting National efforts for fight against COVID-19 by creating awareness against the disease through SMSs and by tracking suspected/vulnerable cases using mobile phone technologies.

In the wake of recent outbreak of Corona virus, Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs), on the direction of PTA, have sent 109 Million SMSs to mobile subscribers about preventive measures against Coronavirus in Urdu and English. Till now, 170 thousand SMSs have also been sent to passengers coming from China and Iran advising them to obtain immediate assistance if they developed virus symptoms.

To provide health-related information services to the people, the short code 1166 has been allocated and is being used by National Emergency Center. The UAN 111-757-777 has been allocated to Sukkur Municipal Corporation for providing Corona virus information to the public.

Moreover PTA is assisting Ministry of National Health Services, Ministry of Interior (MoI), NDMA and National Institute of Health (NIH) in providing data to generate and monitor Corona Virus heat maps.