South Asian leaders to discuss coronavirus thru video conferencing
Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Prime Minister Imran Khan has assured the nation that he was personally overseeing the efforts being taken to contain the spread of coronavirus as total number of COVID-19 cases reached 31 on Saturday.
In a tweet from his official handle, the premier said he will address the nation soon and urged the people to follow precautionary measures issued by the government and added that “while there is a need for caution there is no need for panic”.
His statement comes soon after three new cases of novel coronavirus were diagnosed in Pakistan, including Islamabad’s first and second locally transmitted case in Karachi.
In a follow-up tweet, the premier said the government is on high-alert and have implemented “sufficient protocols for the safety and health of our people”.
“We are alert to the dangers and have put in place sufficient protocols for the safety and health of our people. The WHO has commended our efforts as being amongst the best in the world,” he added.
Menwhile, leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, long ignored by India, will interact through video conference on Sunday to discuss the common strategy against deadly novel coronavirus.
While other countries would be represented by heads of government, Pakistan deputed its de facto health minister Dr Zafar Mirza for the conference.The idea for a video conference came from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Pakistan accepting the offer said the coronavirus outbreak required coordinated efforts both at regional and international levels. “Timely action for a healthier planet. Tomorrow at 5 PM, leaders of SAARC nations will discuss, via conferencing, a roadmap to fight the challenge of COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. I am confident that our coming together will lead to effective outcomes and benefit our citizens,” Modi said in a tweet.power of the federal government, I’m officially declaring a national emergency,” Trump said, announcing $50 billion in federal funds to battle the contagion.
The measure came as infections and deaths soared in Europe, with WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying the continent now had “more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China.” He described it as a “tragic milestone”, and warned it was impossible to say when the virus would peak globally.
Venezuela declared a “state of alert” after confirming its first two cases, and Colombia closed its border with Venezuela and restricted the entry of foreigners who have been to Europe and Asia in the last 14 days.
The US House of Representatives early Saturday overwhelmingly passed a virus relief package for Americans hit by the outbreak. Leaders of the G7, the world’s richest economies, will hold an extraordinary summit via video conference on Monday to discuss the pandemic.
A raft of European countries shut their borders to foreigners, closed non-essential businesses, restaurants and hotels and museums, and banned public gatherings. France, the world’s most visited country, closed the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre over what President Emmanuel Macron called “the worst health crisis in France in a century.”
The Pentagon banned all its military and civilian personnel from domestic travel from Monday to help stop the spread of the virus. Asian stocks tumbled in volatile business following the worst day on Wall Street since the crash of 1987 as traders scrambled to sell, wiping trillions off market valuations. The Dow closed up 9.4 percent following Trump’s emergency measures.
The virus has cut a swathe through sporting events and put a major question mark over the Tokyo Olympics, with Trump saying “maybe they postpone it for a year”, sparking furious denials from Japan.
In Britain, where the government’s softly-softly strategy has raised some eyebrows, Queen Elizabeth II has put off engagements, and local elections planned for May have been cancelled.
With authorities warning large gatherings should be avoided, entertainment venues such as Disneyland have been closed and the lucrative Indian Premier League cricket competition postponed.— AFP
Iran said the novel coronavirus has claimed 97 more lives, raising the country’s total to 611, as the number of confirmed cases jumped again.
Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said that “1,365 fresh cases have been added to the number of confirmed infections in the past 24 hours”, bringing the total to 12,729.
Jahanpour told a televised news conference that more than 4,300 of those with confirmed infections had recovered so far.
Tehran province had the highest number of new cases with 347, followed by Isfahan with 155 and the northern region of Alborz with 134.
