Pakistan's smart lockdown policy to fight COVID-19

[Firebat]

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan defended his decision not to impose a complete COVID-19 lockdown once again, saying that Pakistan's circumstances were different from Wuhan city and Europe.

Speaking about the havoc that the coronavirus has wreaked on Pakistan's economy, the prime minister said that he had not been in favour of imposing a lockdown as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had done.

PM Imran was addressing the ceremony for commencement of three Ehsaas initiatives, including Ehsaas Rashan Portal, Ehsaas Langar and Panagah App and PM's COVID Relief Fund website, in the Federal Capital today.

The prime minister spoke about the damage that had been done to the economies of developed countries like Italy and the United States when they had to impose a complete lockdown, saying that long cues of people could be seen in America asking for food and charity.

"So it had to happen in our country [too]," he said. "And if provinces would have asked me I would never have allowed such a lockdown. Because when you are about to impose a lockdown, you should think about the effects your decisions will have on the masses," he added.

The prime minister said that provinces should not have ordered a lockdown until they thought about the effects of that decision on the daily wagers and the poor.

"However, everyone panicked all at once. They were looking at Europe and Wuhan City in China, that were going through different circumstances. Our situation was totally different," he added.

The prime minister spoke about how he was subjected to criticism for not imposing a complete lockdown across the country. "He [Modi] imposed the lockdown they [criticis] wanted me to impose. I thank God that I resisted pressure and didn't do that," he added, noting that there 34% of the people in India were facing hunger and extreme poverty according to research.

PM Imran praised Dr Sania Nishtar and her team for providing billions of rupees to people in a short span of time. He said that the Prime Minister's Relief Fund will be used to provide relief to people who had been unemployed by the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the government will add to each donation to ensure maximum relief reaches the masses.

The prime minister appreciated Dr Sania Nishtar's initiative to bring together donors and the impoverished on a platform so that the government could not be involved in the middle.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/294336-pa...as-wuhan-europe-pm-imran-on-covid-19-lockdown

 

[MenInG]

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated on Monday the government’s resolve to account for every penny donated to the PM’s Corona Relief Fund.

He said the federal government will disclose all details of how public money was spent in a transparent manner, lauding the Pakistan nation’s spirit of making generous donations.

PM Khan was speaking at an event marking commencement of three Ehsaas Programme initiatives, including Ehsaas Rashan Portal, Ehsaas Langar, and Panagah App and PM’s COVID Relief Fund website in Islamabad.

Read More: ‘People of tribal districts are close to my heart’: PM wants early completion of uplift schemes

He said the government is striving to protect people from the adverse impact of the lockdown and maintained that the government didn’t enforce a stricter lockdown like his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi did in the neighbouring country.

In India, the prime minister said, the complete lockdown severely affected the poverty-stricken people and rendered about 34 per cent people either hungry or prone to the diseases.

He disclosed that he would have never allowed the provinces to enforce a complete lockdown, had they asked him for permission in this regard.

He said the government is enforcing smart lockdown in coronavirus hotspots across the country to protect the most vulnerable people. The elderly people and those already suffering from serious diseases are the most vulnerable people, he explained.

If they are guarded against the coronavirus contagion, its impact will significantly minimise, the premier said, predicting that the coming month is difficult because of surging coronavirus cases.

PM Imran Khan lauded the Ehsaas cash programme saying it along with the government’s policy of relaxing the lockdown restrictions helped mitigate the effect of the pandemic.

https://arynews.tv/en/imran-khan-account-every-penny-corona-relief-fund/

 

[MenInG]

ISLAMABAD: As the death toll of Covid-19 patients crossed the 3,600 mark in the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday reiterated that lockdown was not the solution to the pandemic, saying that if provinces had consulted him earlier there would have been no “strict” lockdown in the first place.

The prime minister said this while addressing a launching ceremony of three initiatives — all aimed at facilitating and empowering welfare organisations and enabling them to play a more coordinated role with the government in responding to the Covid-19 situation.

“The lockdown has created an unprecedented situation. If provinces had consulted me, I would have not allowed a lockdown. Panic was created that the virus will spread the way it had in Europe and Wuhan. Our circumstances are different, but a strict lockdown was imposed regardless,” he regretted.

He said the Covid-19 situation in Pakistan was still better than neighbouring India, US and European countries because the government had timely launched Ehsaas cash distribution programme for poor families affected by the coronavirus (under which Rs12,000 stipend was given to 12 million families).

“Next month is difficult in which smart lockdowns will be imposed and SOPs will be strictly followed to save our aged and those vulnerable people who are already suffering from ailments like heart diseases, diabetes and high blood pressure,” the prime minister said. “If we are able to save these vulnerable people, there will be less effect of coronavirus in the country,” he added.

The prime minister revealed that under PM’s Covid-19 Fund, more than 16m families would be provided monetary assistance. “Those who had not been covered under Ehsaas cash programme, like workers and daily wage earners, they will be given cash under the PM’s Fund,” he added.

Talking about the government’s future strategy in the backdrop of Covid-19, the prime minister said: “The government’s next year challenge is how to continue businesses and enforce SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures).”

“For this we are going to launch a media campaign and will mobilise Tiger Force to provide awareness about SOPs specially in hotspots,” he added.

Three initiatives launched

Earlier, Special Assistant to the PM on Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar briefed the prime minister about three initiatives. Federal Minister for Information, Shibli Faraz and SAPM Asim Bajwa were preset during the briefing. Federal secretaries and heads of organisations, including Furqan Ahmed Sayed from Pepsi Co, Mohammad Ali Tabba from Lucky Cement, Atif Bajwa from Alfalah Bank, Arif Usmani from NBP, Bashir Farooqui from Saylani Welfare Trust and Quraish Mehmood from Urban Properties were also present.

The prime minister assured donors of fair utilisation of donations and said: “Transparency is most

critical in the use of donor funds; we are ensuing that there is visibility of every penny donated through the PM’s Covid Fund Portal.”

He said new Langar and Panahgah Apps would help ensure much needed critical coordination of welfare activities in the country.

Several donors, including Pepsi Co, Lucky Cement, Bank Alfalah and Saylani Welfare International Trust committed to donate cumulatively 12 million meals to deserving beneficiaries by signing MoUs with Ehsaas.

The beta version of the Ehsaas Langar and Panahgah apps, which was unveiled during the meeting, enables geographic locations of welfare organisations to be mapped when they are photographed through the app.

During the briefing, the prime minister also officially announced the launch of “Prime Minister’s Covid-19 Pandemic Relief Fund -2020 Web-Portal” to solicit philanthropic donations.

Through this portal, all donors, international as well as domestic, can now remit or deposit their donations through their respective banks through this portal. Till today, as many as pledges worth Rs4.5 billion have been made by several domestic and foreign donors in either kind or cash.

Eidul Azha

In a separate meeting, the prime minister directed officials concerned to devise a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in consultation with provinces to deal with Covid-19 situation during forthcoming Eidul Azha.

The prime minister said this year Eidul Azha was being observed under difficult circumstances. “The present situation requires that SOPs should be devised immediately and they must be implemented strictly in the country,” he added.

According to an official press release, the prime minister expressed satisfaction over availability of beds and oxygen in the hospitals. He said keeping in view of international experience, it had been witnessed that positive results were coming due to strategy adopted by the government.


https://dawn.com/news/3001002/if-asked-would-not-have-allowed-lockdown-pm

 

[JaDed]

Erica Albright:
The Internet's not written in pencil, Mark, it's written in ink.

 

[MenInG]

Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistan's government has identified 500 coronavirus hotspots across the country to be targeted in its "smart lockdown" strategy, according to the country's top health official.

Zafar Mirza, the prime minister's special adviser on health and head of the federal health ministry, told legislators at a briefing on Monday that these areas would be targeted for limited locality-based lockdowns - which the government has dubbed "smart lockdowns" - to control the spread of the coronavirus.

"Due to the current economic situation, it is impossible to implement complete lockdown in the country. However, the government [is] focusing on smart lockdown policy," a statement released after the meeting said.

Pakistan has emerged as one of the countries with the fastest rate of coronavirus infections in recent weeks, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

On Monday, countrywide cases rose by 3,946, taking the overall tally to 185,034 since the country's outbreak began in late February, according to government data.

At least 105 patients died on Monday, according to the data, taking the death toll to 3,766.

Pakistan, like many South Asian countries, has seen a lower observed mortality rate from the coronavirus than European and other countries that have been hard-hit by the virus.

As of Monday, the country's case fatality rate stood at 2 percent, compared with a worldwide average of 5.25 percent.

Lack of healthcare facilities
On Monday, Pakistan saw a decrease in testing, with 24,599 tests carried out countrywide, a reduction of roughly 6,000 from the previous day, according to government data.

The WHO has called for Pakistan, a country of 220 million, to conduct at least 50,000 tests daily in order to gauge the true prevalence of the virus.

The country's rickety health infrastructure has been faltering under the pressure of a surge in cases since the government lifted most restrictions on public gatherings and businesses last month.

On Monday, health adviser Mirza said 1,000 more ventilators were due by the end of the month to increase Pakistan's infrastructure capacity.

There are 3,001 ventilators countrywide, of which 1,503 are currently allocated for COVID-19 patients. According to government data, 37 percent of the allocated capacity of ventilators is in use by critically ill patients.

Hospitals in major cities, however, have already begun to report acute critical-care shortages, forcing them to even turn away patients.

On Monday, Prime Minister Imran Khan said he had opposed the strategy of imposing a widescale lockdown to contain the virus from the beginning, arguing that the country's economy could not afford it.

After weeks of a strict lockdown, Khan's government eased almost all the restrictions in late May, allowing the reopening of business and shops and placing the responsibility of following physical distancing and hygiene guidelines on citizens.

"This coming month is a difficult month, but we will impose smart lockdowns [...] and the biggest part of the smart lockdown is that those people whose lives are in danger because of this illness, people who are elderly or those with other illnesses," said Khan at a charity event on Monday.

"We have to make sure the lockdown is for them. They need to take extra care. If we can save these people, then the effect of corona[virus] will not be as bad as we have seen in other countries of the world."

Pakistan's government has so far distributed 135 billion Pakistani rupees ($818m) in cash grants to low-income families to provide financial aid during the pandemic, benefitting an estimated 11.2 million citizens, according to the government's data.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...500-coronavirus-hotspots-200623072202544.html

 

[MenInG]

Observing SOPs over the next month crucial to curb virus cases, says PM Imran

Prime Minister Imran Khan, while speaking to volunteers of Corona Relief Tiger Force, said that if proper measures are taken over the next month, the country will be able to evade the peak of cases.

He expressed regret that people "still didn't understand the importance of following the SOPs set by us (the government)".

He was accompanied by SAPM Usman Dar, Information Minister Shibli Faraz and others.

 

[Mamoon]

Problem: people are not careful.

Imran Khan’s solution: people should be careful.

Amazing leadership.

 

[Bewal Express]

Problem: people are not careful.

Imran Khan’s solution: people should be careful.

Amazing leadership.

Most PK's agree with IK and his handling , in fact somewhere around 70%. That is incredibly high.

 

[Bewal Express]

Observing SOPs over the next month crucial to curb virus cases, says PM Imran

Prime Minister Imran Khan, while speaking to volunteers of Corona Relief Tiger Force, said that if proper measures are taken over the next month, the country will be able to evade the peak of cases.

He expressed regret that people "still didn't understand the importance of following the SOPs set by us (the government)".

He was accompanied by SAPM Usman Dar, Information Minister Shibli Faraz and others.

Education is the only way forward. Give people information and keep giving it.

 

[Mamoon]

Most PK's agree with IK and his handling , in fact somewhere around 70%. That is incredibly high.

Which means the percentage of sensible people with high IQ is about 30%.

 

[Bewal Express]

Which means the percentage of sensible people with high IQ is about 30%.

And your qualification to decide who has the IQ is? Do you have to be a supporter of killers and looters to have this high IQ?

 

[King-Misbah]

Which means the percentage of sensible people with high IQ is about 30%.

Do you consider yourself to be in the 70 or 30%?

 

[MenInG]

If we can get past this month without numbers escalating, the worst could be over: PM Imran

"I want to tell my nation that we're facing a difficult situation. We need to follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) properly to defeat coronavirus," said Prime Minister Imran Khan in the parliament.

"It is our duty to make people realise how important it is to save the elderly and those with comorbidities. We have people sitting here [in NA] who have recovered, but for those with weakness and illnesses, it can be life threatening.

"This next step is critical because we have two paths before us; if we take precautions, then God willing our facilities are enough to cope with it [the outbreak]," said the premier, warning that negligence could make matters worse.

"If we can get past this month without numbers escalating, the worst could

 

[MenInG]

PM Imran says there's been no 'confusion' in govt's Covid-19 response

Prime Minister Imran Khan, while addressing the National Assembly, said if there was any government which was not confused about its approach to tackling Covid-19, it was Pakistan's.

He said there was "a lot of pressure" on him to impose a strict lockdown. "Even in my own cabinet, people wanted a more severe lockdown to be imposed [...] We put up with a lot of criticism."

"There was no confusion. We've had daily meetings and taken decisions," said PM Imran, adding that his team considered all the people in the country and how the lockdown would impact them.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Live: Prime Minister Imran Khan speaking in National Assembly during discussion on Budget 2020-21 <a href="https://t.co/VXONnOVada">https://t.co/VXONnOVada</a></p>— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) <a href="https://twitter.com/RadioPakistan/status/1276110703456215043?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[MenInG]

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday defended his government's response to the coronavirus crisis, saying there has been no confusion or contradiction in official policies since the start of the pandemic.

Speaking in the parliament during the budget session, the premier said he had stressed from day one the need to balance measures to fight the virus and preventing people from going hungry.

"They say again and again that there was confusion ... if there was one country whose government did not have confusion, it was ours," he said to applause from other treasury members.

He said the government had imposed a lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 when the country had only 26 cases and no deaths. At that point, he added, the provinces had "reacted themselves" because lockdown had become a worldwide phenomenon and the country did not have "centralised planning".

But he said he and his team feared from day one that the lockdown model used by Western countries and China could not be copied in Pakistan because the situation in the subcontinent was "very different".

The prime minister said people give the example of countries like New Zealand when talking about social distancing "but New Zealand has social distancing already" with a low population density. On the other hand, Pakistan has a high population density and eight-nine people often live in one-room houses, he said.

"I said from day one we had a dual problem; we had to save the people from corona and hunger, and those dying from poverty," he added, acknowledging that his government had to face "a lot of criticism" at the start and there was pressure, including from cabinet members, to implement a more strict lockdown "as done by India".

But he said the data now coming in had shown that the government took the right steps to respond to the health crisis.

Addressing the opposition benches, he challenged their lawmakers to "point out one statement that had inconsistency" since the lockdown was first announced on March 13.

"I constantly talked about two things: if you have the population of Singapore, if you have $50,000 per capita income [and] if you have natural social distancing, then curfew is the way to go.

"But I also talked about how the restrictions would impact the poor people based on our conditions," he added.

Recalling that the government did not have any data on available ventilators and intensive care staff initially, Imran lauded the National Command and Operation Centre for collecting all the information on a daily basis and looking at trends with expert help due to which "our decision making was free of inconsistencies".

'Next phase is difficult'
Reiterating the "destruction" a sweeping lockdown could cause to a country, Prime Minister Imran said: "India's reports are in front of the world ... figures show that 34 per cent people have been steeped into poverty. Their hospitals are facing difficulties; they are full."

He said the government had opened the construction sector first and now the whole world was saying that "there are more negative effects of lockdown as compared to its impact on controlling the virus."

Citing the example of New York, Imran said even "the strongest economy is also realising you cannot close down an economy."

He added that his government was the first to talk about a 'smart' lockdown. "This is the hallmark of our NCOC; look at our population and how we have navigated this hurdle."

At the same time, the premier told the nation that they have a "very difficult situation" in front of them.

"The next phase is difficult because we are trying to make people understand why following standard operating procedures is so important," he said, adding that the virus spreads when there are clusters.

He said the country had two paths going forward: there are enough facilities to cope with the virus if people take precautions, but if people show carelessness, the disease will continue to wreak havoc.

"If we spend this month following precautions, then we can save ourselves from [the virus's] bad effects," he said, condoling with the families of the nearly 4,000 people who have died of Covid-19 in the country.

'Govt not hiding behind corona'
The prime minister also dismissed the criticism by some opposition members that the government was "hiding behind corona" to take attention away from its economic performance, saying Pakistan was not the only country whose economy was hit by the pandemic.

"Today the IMF gave figures, the world's economy will suffer a loss of $12 trillion. The whole world is saying that this is the biggest economic crisis in 100 years," he said, adding that he found the opposition's accusation "strange" because the world has entered a recession.

Responding to the criticism of the government's economic performance, Prime Minister Imran said his administration had inherited a current account deficit of $20 billion.

"When we came the biggest issue was inflation. The rupee was Rs104 against the dollar but when we took office it reached Rs122. Eventually, the rupee fell and then stabilised due to the measures we took," he said.

However, he recalled, the exchange rate caused the imports to become expensive and as a result, the prices of goods rose. "Poverty was then inevitable due to this adjustment. But we inherited this, we didn't give this huge deficit," the premier said.

The national debt had reached Rs30,000 billion by the time the PTI took over and reserves of $20 billion crashed down to $10 billion. As a result, the government was forced to reach out to friendly countries for help, he added.

"I felt shame when we went to others to ask for money. We were asking for that money because we were about to default," the prime minister said.

He also compared the funds spent on foreign trips by him and the former presidents and prime ministers from the PPP and PML-N, saying he had used much less money as compared to the former rulers and cut down expenses of the Prime Minister's Office.

Supporting US caused 'humiliation' to Pakistan: PM
Prime Minister Imran also spoke about his government's foreign policy, starting with the country's relations with the United States.

He said Pakistan had to face a lot of "humiliation" despite supporting Washington in the 'war on terror' and was then blamed for the US's failures in Afghanistan.

Recalling the two incidents that caused "embarrassment" to Pakistan while supporting the US, he said: "The Americans came to Abbottabad and killed, martyred [Al Qaeda leader] Osama bin Laden. What happened after that? The entire world cursed at us and spoke ill of us.

"So our ally comes to our own country to kill someone and doesn't inform us? And 70,000 Pakistanis have died in their war. Look at the humiliation that caused to all the Pakistanis who were abroad."

He said the US was carrying out drone strikes inside Pakistan, which the Pakistani government at the time said it opposed. But when an American senator asked former US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen at a Senate hearing why drone attacks were being carried out despite the Pakistani government's objection, Mullen replied that "we are carrying out the drone attacks with the permission of the Pakistani government", Prime Minister Imran added.

He said Pakistan did not know whether it was an ally or a foe of the US in the war on terror and such incidents caused immense embarrassment to overseas Pakistanis.

Prime Minister Imran said it was his party's "consistent" foreign policy that its government would not participate in the American war and only take part in peace talks. Today, the country is not fighting somebody else's war and the relationship with the US is based on trust, he added.

"No one is humiliating us there anymore. [US President] Donald Trump has always given respect whenever we have met. In fact, he requests our help in bringing peace to Afghanistan," he said, adding that Pakistan's role in the Afghan peace talks was being widely acknowledged today.

Prime Minister Imran also said Pakistan had tried and is still trying to improve relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. However, he acknowledged that there are problems in ending the conflict because "other players involved don't want" to see that happening.

He said his government had also tried to mend relations with India but the BJP government's Hindu supremacist agenda became clear when India annexed occupied Kashmir last year.

Imran said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a "fanatic" who is a curse for not only Indian Muslims but also for Hindus.

He said the Kashmir issue has now reached a "point of no return" and India keeping eight million Kashmiris subjugated by deploying 800,000 troops will be "unsustainable".

https://www.dawn.com/news/1565156/p...-there-has-been-no-confusion-or-contradiction

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged people to celebrate the upcoming Eid al-Adha festival with “simplicity” to stop a further spread of the virus.

Eid is set to begin at the end of July and will last several days. Many people return to rural areas from cities to see their families.

During Ramadan, the last religious holiday, many people in Pakistan ignored social distancing rules, leading to a surge in coronavirus cases.

Khan said on Twitter that the same could not happen again and reminded people that “our hospitals were choked” during that time.

More than 5,470 people have died and more than 260,000 people have tested positive for the virus in Pakistan.

 

[Mamoon]

The government continues to “urge” the public and “warn” them of the consequences but then you don’t see any leadership on the ground.

People will be flocking the shops without masks and bumping into each other, and the police will be standing and doing nothing, and you won’t find a single corona tiger in action either.

I still don’t know where those white t-shirt wearing superheroes operate.

Imran Khan has not shown a semblance of leadership or authority during this pandemic. Completely spineless and confused leadership.

He is lucky that most of the damage has been done already otherwise the military would have been forced to supersede him on this front as well.

 

[Abdullah719]

Punjab govt imposes 'smart lockdown' from midnight till August 5

Punjab government on Monday said it is imposing a 'smart lockdown' in the province, effective from midnight tonight till August 5, in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus during Eidul Azha.

The step comes as Punjab reported zero deaths for the first time in two months. The official daily tally of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the province has remained below 500 over the last one week.

According to a notification issued by the Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department dated July 27, all educational and training institutes, marriage halls, business centres, expo halls, restaurants, theme/amusement parks, play areas and arcades, beauty parlours and spas, cinemas and theatres will remain closed.

Spoiler

"There shall be a complete ban on sporting tournaments/matches (indoor and outdoor) except non-contact professional sports without spectators. All contact sports and indoor sports clubs/facilities shall remain closed."

The notification added that there will also be a complete ban on gatherings of all kinds for social, religious or any other purpose at any place, public or private.

"All retail shops, markets, shopping malls and plazas shall remain closed," the notification said. However, exceptions were made for some, including pharmacies postal services, petrol pumps and takeaway/home delivery for restaurants, which will be allowed to operate for 24 hours.

Grocery stores, bakeries, corner shops, fruit and vegetable shops, meat and milk shops and tandoors will be allowed to operate from 6am to 12am while inter-city and inter-district public transport will be allowed to operate round-the-clock.

On Sunday, Punjab Chief Secretary Jawwad Rafique Malik had said that protecting human lives was of utmost importance to the government and all possible steps, including the strict implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) in cattle markets, would be taken to curb the spread of Covid-19.

He was presiding over a meeting reviewing arrangements for enforcing a 'smart lockdown' in the province and SOPs in cattle markets.

The chief secretary had said 'smart lockdowns' in Lahore and other cities in the province had yielded positive results and the number of new coronavirus cases had continued to subside since then.

He had stated that shopping activities in markets before Eidul Azha could intensify the spread of Covid-19, adding that keeping in view the experience of Eidul Fitr, it had been decided in the larger public interest to enforce 'smart lockdowns' ahead of the upcoming religious festival.

The chief secretary had asked all divisional commissioners to strictly enforce SOPs, including wearing masks and banning the entry of the elderly and children in cattle markets.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1571426/punjab-govt-imposes-smart-lockdown-from-midnight-till-august-5

 

[Abdullah719]

PM Imran urges coronavirus caution during Eidul Azha, Muharram

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan urged people on Monday to follow government-defined health guidelines during Eidul Azha and Muharram so that the number of Covid-19 cases in the country do not rise again, ARY News reported.

Addressing the nation after chairing a meeting regarding the coronavirus situation in the country, the premier has appealed to the masses to celebrate upcoming Eidul Azha with simplicity and take precautionary measures during Eidul Azha and Muharram in an effort to curb the transmission of the coronavirus.

“If we don’t take care during Eid and Muharram, then cases may rise again,” added the prime minister.

Spoiler

Imran Khan said the countries that enforced complete lockdown, such as India, suffered a lot in respect of the increase in poverty. He said in case of an increase in the cases after Eid and Muharram, the government will have to impose lockdown in the country again.

He said the Covid-19 cases declined in the country due to government’s smart lockdown strategy which was even hailed by world.

He urged the public to refrain from repeating the mistakes made during Eidul Fitr. The prime minister advised people to use face masks during visiting cattle markets to purchase sacrificial animals.

“Pakistan is among a few countries where the number of infections is going down.” If we take care now, then we can overcome pandemic soon,” he added.

The prime minister warned that if precautionary measures are not adopted during Eid-ul Azha and Muharram-ul Haram, the country will witness another spike of Coronavirus cases

Earlier in the day, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Monday appealed to masses to avoid visiting picnic spots on Eidul Azha as the coronavirus pandemic is still a threat.

https://arynews.tv/en/pm-imran-khan-urges-caution-during-eidul-azha/

 

[MenInG]

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said all businesses, including marriage halls, restaurants, educational institutions as well as those associated with the tourism sector, might reopen if the present trend of low Covid-19 cases persisted throughout Muharram.

Addressing the nation, Prime Minister Khan urged citizens to continue taking precautionary measures during Eidul Azha and Muharram to prevent a spike in novel coronavirus cases as was seen soon after Eidul Fitr.

“Be careful. If we pass Eid and Muharram with caution, there are chances that all closed businesses might reopen,” the prime minister said.

The country cannot afford another surge in cases as it will hit the country’s economy hard and also affect those in the vulnerable age group, Prime Minister Khan said, urging people to observe their animal sacrifice ritual online and follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) if they had to visit the animal market.

“I urge people to go for online Qurbani and avoid visiting animal markets,” he said, adding that in case people do visit these markets, they must adopt all SOPs and wear masks.

“Opt for online sacrifice of animals to avoid gatherings in a bid to control mass spread of the virus,” he added.

He also advised shopkeepers and customers against violating the SOPs, asking them to observe social distancing during shopping and not to adopt the same careless approach they did during Eidul Fitr two months ago.

“If we are not cautious during Eid and Muharram, cases might rise again and the situation can worsen. Allah Almighty has blessed our country as the number of cases is declining,” he said in his address.

“If we are not careful, it could prove dangerous for our economy and for the aged and ailing people,” he added.

The prime minister gave the example of Australia and Spain where the virus cases had jumped again after initially falling.

“I appeal to everyone not to be complacent about Covid-19; adopt safety measures and do not risk the lives of the elderly and patients,” he added.

The prime minister took the credit of going for smart lockdown, saying his government was the first in the world to follow this policy, later adopted by other countries.

“Our government was the first to introduce smart lockdown in March instead of the strict curfew-like measures imposed in India, Europe and China,” the prime minister added.

”Despite pressures and criticism by various segments of the society, the government preferred the smart lockdown instead of complete closure as it had realised that Pakistan’s situation was nothing compared to that of Europe and China. We had to save our people both from coronavirus and starvation,” he said.

The prime minister said since Pakistan was faced with challenges like poverty, slum population, and informal and unregistered labour, smart lockdown was the best option to maintain a balance that allowed the poor and daily-wage labourers to earn their livelihood under the cover of safety SOPs.

He said his government took pride in launching the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme through which an unprecedented number of deserving people was given financial assistance after necessary verification from Nadra in a short span of time.

The prime minister lauded his team for giving its best during the difficult situation, adding that construction and agriculture sectors were opened to boost the economy during the crisis.

Later, in a separate meeting, the prime minister was apprised of the food supply situation in the country, especially about wheat and flour. He was informed that permission had been given to import 1.5 million tonnes of wheat to meet the local demand.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1571540/all-businesses-to-reopen-if-covid-figures-remain-low-says-pm

 

[Abdullah719]

‘Smart lockdowns’ lead to effective handling of Covid-19 in Pakistan

KARACHI: The Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Society Pakistan (MMIDSP) has said Pakistan’s Covid-19 pandemic response is appropriate as the decreasing number of cases are the outcome of good decision-making and advisory role of infectious diseases specialists engaged by the federal and provincial authorities.

In a statement issued here on Monday, the MMIDSP said that the strategy of “smart lockdowns”, based on input from leading infectious diseases experts in public and private sector, had proved to be a practical way of handling Covid-19 infection in the country.

The society, said to be the sole representative of infectious diseases specialists in the country, stated that it members and public health experts at the National Institute of Health Islamabad came together in January after the initial reports of novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China.

The health experts, all currently serving in public and private sector hospitals across the country and many heading corona wards, had since been actively involved in shaping the country’s response to Covid-19 pandemic and played a pivotal role in formulating policies, identifying control measures, defining diagnostic and treatment strategies, teaching and training of healthcare workers and advising both provincial and federal governments on mitigation strategies, it added.

‘Political consensus irrelevant’
“Control measures to contain infection have to be based on sound scientific principles; political consensus is irrelevant in this context,” the statement said, adding that the level of preparedness of different healthcare facilities proved largely to be appropriate for the number of cases and currently many of the beds assigned for Covid-19 patients in these facilities lie vacant.

The isolation centres set up in the Expo centres of Karachi and Lahore, both having a capacity of over 1,000 beds each, never worked to their full capacity even during the peak of disease activity in June, the society said. “Public messages have been consistent since the beginning and at no point in time were people asked to forego distancing, hand hygiene or use of mask.”

The PCR-based testing for Covid, which was initiated in January and is now available in many cities, was not feasible for minimally symptomatic patients or for large-scale screening of asymptomatic individuals, the society said, adding that seroprevalence studies, designed in collaboration with experts in the field and WHO officials, were under way in different parts of the country and the results would guide decisions regarding control measures, resource allocation and further initiatives.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1573697/smart-lockdowns-lead-to-effective-handling-of-covid-19-in-pakistan

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">& complete lockdowns in most countries. In Pak, the PDM by continuing with jalsas is deliberately endangering lives & livelihoods bec if cases continue to rise at the rate we are seeing, we will be compelled to go into complete lockdown & PDM will be responsible for consequences</p>— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1330397590416986115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[MenInG]

Prime Minister Imran Khan has reiterated that the country cannot afford a complete lockdown and that businesses will continue to operate on a limited scale during the raging third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The prime minister – who was tested positive for the contagious disease last week – was chairing a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Covid-19 via video link from his Bani Gala residence.

At the meeting in which chief ministers of all the four provinces also took part though video conference, Prime Minister Imran directed the relevant authorities to strictly implement coronavirus related standard operating procedures (SOPs), while also running a campaign encouraging use of masks.

“The authorities must swing into action for ensuring implementation on the SOPs. The third wave of the pandemic is very dangerous and there is a need to take safety measures.

“However, the country cannot afford a total lockdown and therefore businesses will continue to operate at a limited scale. We successfully fought the pandemic’s first wave by adopting a better strategy. It is the need of the hour to once again show a responsible behaviour,” sources quoted the PM as saying.

The participants were briefed about procuring the Covid-19 vaccines and the ongoing process of administering these vaccines to different categories of people. The premier asked the relevant authorities to ensure transparency and merit in the vaccination process.

The participants also reviewed the proposal to reduce the inter-provincial traffic. The meeting also endorsed the decision to impose an immediate ban on indoor and outdoor functions in cities and areas with more than 8% positivity rate.

The prime minister, expressing his concern over negligence regarding the implementation of Covid standard operating procedures (SOPs), called for initiating a robust public awareness campaign to ensure the implementation of corona SOPs.

He said the most effective strategy to deal with the third wave of coronavirus was to check the factors behind fast spread of the contagion and using face masks.

The prime minister on the occasion also appealed the masses to ensure the implementation of corona SOPs.

The meeting was briefed in detail about the current situation of COVID-19 pandemic in the country, percentage of positive cases, availability of corona vaccine and its supply to masses as well as the measures being taken to ensure the ample availability of vaccine to people in near future.

The prime minister, who was also briefed about the situation in region after the outbreak of third wave of Covid pandemic, said the worldwide experience showed that the use of face masks had been most effective in checking the spread of the virus.

He said the strategy to deal with the third wave of coronavirus and to check its spread would have to be formulated while keeping in view the country's economic situation, especially the difficulties of masses.

The prime minister said as it were the poor who were affected most by the pandemic the center of government's whole strategy was to provide relief to poor masses and to protect them from the negative effects of Covid.

He said the government had to adopt a balanced policy so as to check the pandemic at one hand and protect the people and economy from its effects on the other.

The prime minister said the previous wave of Covid had rendered just 20 million people in Pakistan jobless. The poor segments were provided effective relief through the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme, he added.

The provincial chief ministers and officials apprised the prime minister of the Covid situation in their respective provinces.

The prime minister directed all the provincial governments not only to mobilize the public about implementation of corona SOPs but also ensure the effective role of district administration in that respect.

Separately, the prime minister said introduction of electronic voting machine was critical to ensuring a transparent, safe and impartial voting process in the country.

He said on the basis of past experiences, the introduction of such device was imperative for the national and democratic interests of the country and reiterated government's resolve in that regard.

The prime minister was given a briefing on the functioning of electronic voting machine. The detailed briefing was given by Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain over the electronic voting machine, a joint product of COMSATS and National Institute of Electronics (NIE), its working and key features, Prime Minister Office Media Wing said in a statement.

Addressing the meeting, the prime minister said unfortunately, in the past, different questions had been raised on holding of elections which not only stymied the electoral and democratic process, but also hurt the public confidence.

The democratic and election process, he stressed, could no longer afford such process over which apprehensions were raised, shaking public trust.

The prime minister directed that efforts should be expedited for equipping the electronic machine with latest security features by keeping in view experiences of the developed countries.

The prime minister was apprised that with the help of relevant machine, the whole voting process would be made transparent and impartial besides, the election results would be obtained quickly and fully secured.

Complete resolution of all voting issues which were raised in the past had been ensured through this electronic gadget, it was further added.

On the occasion, the prime minister was also presented with practical demonstration of the voting process through the electronic voting machine.

It was further apprised that the machine which was a joint venture of ministry of science and technology, COMSATS and NIE had also been tested on limited basis which produced very encouraging results.

The prime minister expressed his satisfaction over the functioning of the machine and appreciated efforts made by the ministry of science and COMSATS.

With additional input from APP