PM Imran commends NCOC as Pakistan ranked third in ‘return to normalcy’ index

ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday felicitated members of the country’s top monitoring body on effectively combating the Covid pandemic. 

On his official handle, the premier shared a chart of the Economist Normalcy Index and wrote: “Congratulations to NCOC members, Ehsaas team & State Bank of Pakistan for effective response to Covid 19 pandemic; and above all thanks to the mercy of Almighty Allah.”

کوروناء (COVID-19) جیسی عالمی وباء سے نمٹنے کی مؤثر حکمت عملی پر میں این سی او سی اراکین، احساس ٹیم اور سٹیٹ بنک آف پاکستان کو مبارکباد پیش کرتا ہوں اور سب سے بڑھ کر قادرِ مطلق اللہ کی رحمت و احسان کا شکرگزار ہوں۔pic.twitter.com/C8vQP4D9ku

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) July 7, 2021

International weekly newspaper The Economist developed Global Normalcy Index to rank countries on the basis of progress on eight variables. The variables include sports attendance, time at home, traffic congestion, retail footfall, office occupancy, flights, film box office, and public transport.

With a score of 84.4 out of 100, Pakistan ranked third among 50 countries. As many as 50 countries that represent about 75 percent of the global population and 90 percent of global GDP has been included in the list.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong secured the top spot with 96 percent normality followed by New Zealand with 87 percent. China ranked 19th in the index, the US 20th, and the UK 36th.

"The world is slowly coming back to pre-pandemic levels, Today it stands at 66 (out of 100) suggesting that the world has traveled roughly half of the way back to pre-pandemic life,” The Economist said in a press release.