Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday (May 9th) announced a phased easing of the lockdown to curb the spread of the corona virus in the country.
Addressing a press conference after the meeting of the National Coordinating Committee, Prime Minister Imran Khan said, “We imposed a lockdown on March 13 and closed public places. But from day one, I feared that our situation would be different from Europe and China.” The lockdown we have to do will be different because there is a working class here on a daily wage and we were worried about what would happen to them if everything was shut down.
“We were looking at the situation around the world, how the virus was spreading, thousands of people were dying every day in countries around the world, and in view of all this, we set up the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC),” he said. Made.
The Prime Minister said that fortunately that wave of corona virus did not come to Pakistan.
He said that Federal Minister for Planning Asad Omar has been made the head of NCOC and under it all the provinces are contacted daily and the situation is reviewed and decisions are taken after taking suggestions from doctors.
Imran Khan said that we have decided to ease the lockdown in consultation with all the provinces, the number of cases and deaths in Pakistan is slowly increasing but today we cannot say that the epidemic will rise in a month or 2 Will come in a month
“We are easing the phased lockdown from Saturday (May 9) as small shopkeepers, daily wage earners, rickshaw pullers and taxi drivers are in trouble in our country. We fear small and medium scale,” he said. The industry should not be completely shut down.
“We have provided money to the people through the Ehsas program. How long can we continue to do this?” Our taxes have been reduced by 35%, exports and revenues have been reduced, the government does not already have the money and all sectors are in trouble, we cannot help all the victims.
Imran Khan said that we are opening the lockdown but wisely, Pakistanis will have a big hand in our success in the next phase, if at that time we become a nation and take care of ourselves and systematically follow the standard operating procedure (SOPs). ) Act on.
The Prime Minister said that it is the responsibility of the nation to follow the SOPs, we do not think that the police should go and carry out raids and carry it out because it does not happen in free and civilized societies. If so, the government cannot say at the insistence of Dande that keep distance during prayers, how many factories the government will go to.
“If we have to get out of a difficult time, we have to show responsibility. If the cases of corona virus increase again and people don’t take precautions, we will have to shut it all down. It’s time to avoid the effects of lockdown,” he said. Become a responsible citizen and follow all precautions.
‘Public transport not agreed due to provinces’ concerns’
The Prime Minister said that there is no consensus on the issue of public transport, I think it should be opened because it is used by a common man and it benefits the poor and in this regard the Supreme Court was of the same opinion that Public transport and train service should be restored.
Continuing his speech, the Prime Minister said that since the provinces have concerns and do not want to take any decision which would cause problems to the provinces, they should prepare SOPs in this regard.
He said that Asad Omar has been asked to consult the NCOC provinces on public transport and try to run public transport with SOPs.
Imran Khan said that at present one and a half lakh Pakistanis are stranded abroad and they want to return home and Pakistanis returning from abroad are facing many problems that are quarantined for tests but they want to go home. Are
Continuing his speech, the Prime Minister said that he was talking to the provinces to allow such people to be quarantined at home but the provinces feared that they might affect their families and the elderly and I think self-imposed quarantine. Should be allowed and it should be said that if their families get infected with the virus, they will be held responsible.
The Prime Minister said that at this time it is a difficult time for the whole world, the whole nation should pay double dues that the situation of the country is not so bad.
“We also have to protect people from corona and take care of those affected by the lockdown,” he said. “Focusing on corona is spreading tuberculosis (TB) and cancer.”
“I have tried my best to minimize the impact of the lockdown on the poor, but we have to take further steps as it is affecting more people,” he said.