STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday announced that the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country has been extended for schools and public places for two more weeks. The premier, after chairing the meeting of National Coordination Committee attended by the country’s top civil and military leadesrhip in Islamabad, said certain industries such as construction will be opened, beginning today, Wednesday. “We got to this decision with the consent of all the provincial chief secretaries and chief ministers,” he said, adding: “There is about an 89% consensus on which industries to reopen and which not to.” “98% consensus have been reached among all provinces and Centre over the reopening of some business sector in the country particularly the construction industry,” he added. “Construction industry and other sectors will be opened from today in phases,” he announced. PM Imran further said the government is issuing a presidential ordinance today to provide unprecedented stimulus package to the construction industry. “We are also going to issue an ordinance to take stringent actions against smuggling and hoarding of goods,” he said while terming the smuggling and hoarding as two major challenges being faced by the country. “We are taking steps to control the spread of coronavirus… I am aware of the difficulties faced by people due to lockdown,” said the premier, adding that, “I appreciate the people for braving these difficulties and adopt the government’s lockdown measures”. The premier said the government would join hands with Ulema to come up with a national strategy for Ramazan to ensure that citizens can offer their religious obligations within the guidelines for Covid-19. “On the one side we have corona[virus] and on the other hunger,” PM Imran explained that the decision to open the construction industry is taken to maintain a balance between lockdown and poverty. He appealed to the people to strictly follow social distancing measures or else the government would be compelled to close the businesses. The premier said 75% of labourers in Pakistan are not registered with any government body due to which it is very difficult for the government to support them. “For this reason, we are opening construction industry to help the weaker segment of our society,” he explained. He said that after the 18th Amendment, the provinces were given autonomy to make their own decisions in such matters. “If even now, provinces think they are not ready for this, it is up to them. The Centre will not impose its decision on them.” Speaking of the government’s response to the virus so far, the premier said: “Owing to the restrictions we imposed, the way the virus should have spread, it did not. It only spread to an extent of 30% when compared to our projections.” PM Imran said the projections were based on trends observed worldwide. He said, “190 people should have died so far. We have less than half the number of deaths from the projected number,” he said. The prime minister, while thanking everyone for taking precautions, warned that we should still all be mindful that “this virus can spread rapidly at any time”. “We need to continue to exercise caution., perhaps even more now (so we can keep the virus at bay).” The premier said that even though things do not seem as dismal in the country right now “if the curve spikes up, our current health system will not be able to meet the challenge”. He said that whereas the one front the country is fighting on is the containment of the virus — for which the lockdown for schools and public places is being extended by a further two weeks — the other front is the widespread unemployment that has resulted from restrictions. Reiterating the need for people to continue to exercise self-discipline, the prime minister said despite the situation not looking as dismal, “if the curve spikes up, our current health system will not be able to meet the challenge”. Meanwhile, Federal Minister of Industries and Production Hammad Azhar laid out the government’s plan regarding businesses and industries. He clarified that with the consensus of federal and provincial governments, items of daily-use, food and grocery, medicine, agriculture, fuels, media, banking and relief organizations as well as businesses and industries related to these sectors are already operational. The Minister said that his team identified low-risk industries where there was a lower chance of the virus spreading and proposed for them to be exempt from the lockdown. He said, it was mutually decided that all the industries, services and retail of all essential items shall continue to operate. This includes all industrial and commercial entities that are part of the supply chain of food items, medicines, pharmacy, agriculture, fuel, media, banks and p h i l a n t h r o p i c organisations. The transport of all goods in the country shall also continue to take place without interruption. However, the existing closure/ban on areas of congregation like schools, marriage halls, cinemas, restaurants etc shall remain in place. The restriction on inter provincial travel shall also continue. On the recommendation of NCOC, the following categories of low risk economic activities were also agreed by the provinces, AJK and GB to be allowed to operate subject to adherence of SOPs:
