Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Prime Minister Imran Khan warned Pakistan may see a “spike in cases” of the deadly Coronavirus in the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha and the holy month of Muharram. The Prime Minister made this warning on Monday, in regards to the danger posed to the public if people failed to follow the predetermined standard operating procedures issued in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
PM Imran’s cautionary comments came almost three weeks after he advised people not to repeat “what they did on Eid-ul-Fitr” and exercise extra caution on Eid-ul-Azha so that a resurgence of the coronavirus could be avoided.
In a televised address to the nation, he said Pakistan’s situation was quite different from China, the US, and other European countries. Due to the ‘smart lockdown’ strategy, “we were able to contain the spread of coronavirus and now the whole world is now recognising its benefits,” he noted.
The premier said Pakistan’s strategy to tackle the virus had to be different as a big majority of daily wagers in the country were unregistered. “70-80% of labourers in our country are not registered; therefore, our approach had to be different than European countries.
“We could not take any drastic step like imposing curfew. We were afraid that more people will die from starvation and poverty than coronavius itself.
“India is now suffering the results of their decisions and the people are suffering in the neighbourhood,” he said.
The world is admitting and accepting that lockdown was not the only solution to the virus situation, the prime minister stressed, adding that Pakistan was also focusing on the agricultural sector as “we do not want any distortions and disruptions in the food supply”.
PM Imran lamented the criticism for reopening the construction sector but underlined that “we took the risk and set our priorities straight to save the people from hunger and poverty”. He added that the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme was rolled out as part of the party’s agenda to provide cushion to the vulnerable segment of the society.
“There’s no precedent of the Ehsaas programme in the world, [one] where the impoverished segment of the society was aided through transparent and synchronised operations.”
“Even when we were imposing smart lockdown, we implemented the lockdown strategically with clusters,” he commented.
The prime minister went on to thank his team for their efforts in tackling the crisis, saying: “I want to credit my team for pulling off such results. After three months, Pakistan has reported the lowest fatality rate comparatively to the past.
“We need to understand that the world is still experimenting with strategies to curb the virus. It has also been observed that if countries do not vigilantly make strategies for the post-pandemic world, the virus may return with a peak in the countries. “We have example of Australia, Iran, and other countries where the virus has returned and the spike of cases are reported once again,” he explained.
The PM again stressed for people to heed to the SOPs in the upcoming days, noting: “If we will not be cautious during the Eid ul Adha and Moharram period.
