Punjab Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Social Welfare Raja Basharat has said that the government would be forced to take drastic measures if the people not comply with SOPs to avoid Corona.
He was addressing a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Corona held at the Chief Minister’s House under his chairmanship here on Friday.
The Secretary Primary and Secondary Health briefed the participants on the latest situation of the pandemic in the province. The law minister said that the government has been repeatedly appealing to the people to take precautions but unfortunately most of the people seemed to be ignoring SOPs.
He further said that due to the effective efforts of the government, the outbreak of Corona was almost over but due to non-cooperation of the people new cases have started increasing so all possible steps would be taken to stop the spread of Corona.
An earlier Health Department briefing said there had been a steady increase in new cases of corona since September 15. The Secretary Primary Health said that one school in Hafizabad and one in Bhakkar had been closed due to the positive test of Corona while a number of classrooms of schools in several districts had also been closed.
He said that Gujranwala, Nankana Sahib and Gujarat were reporting the highest number of new cases of corona in the province respectively followed by Lahore, Rawalpindi and Sargodha.
He said that smart lockdown was currently underway in 774 areas of Punjab while new SOPs have been set up for marriage halls, educational institutions, markets, workshops and other workplaces.
The meeting also considered allowing employees of government offices over 55 years of age and the lady workers coming with babies to work from home, but the decision would be taken after the approval of the Punjab Chief Minister.
