Zubair Qureshi
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza on Friday said the government was going to make wearing face masks mandatory in public places and a notification in this regard will be issued shortly.
“So far, the government has been recommending that people wear masks when visiting public places. However, now we have decided to make it mandatory as lockdowns have been eased. We will issue a notification in this regard,” he said in a televised press briefing.
Mirza also commented on an agreement between a subsidiary of Ferozsons Laboratories and the United States-based Gilead Sciences for manufacturing and selling remdesivir — an experimental antiviral drug that is considered quite effective in treatment of coronavirus patients.
“The US company has signed agreements with six companies across the world, of which one of them is from Pakistan. Not only will we be manufacturing the drug for our use, we will also be exporting it to 127 countries,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Dr Zafar Mirz at a news conference Friday morning announced the government was awarding licence to a local pharmaceutical company (Ferozsons Laboratories) for manufacturing a Covid-19 treatment.
The pharmaceutical company has concluded its voluntary licensing agreement with the US pharmaceutical company for the manufacture and sale of the drug, further said the PM Special Assistant on Health.
To begin with, the production of the medicine would commence as early as eight weeks after the necessary regulatory approvals are obtained, he said.
Pakistan is one of the five countries that the US company has signed a licensing agreement with for manufacturing the drug.
