–Needs of thalassemia patients being taken care of by Sindh govt
–Only staff, consisting of maximum four to five people, can offer prayers at mosques
KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said Saturday that since cases of coronavirus were emerging from all over the country, therefore, a unanimous health advisory should be issued for each province, including Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and Azad Kashmir.
“The federal government should take all its decisions in consultation with all the other units of the country. We can fight against the spread of coronavirus more effectively if we are together,” he said while addressing a video conference of all the information ministers presided over by Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan on Saturday.
Shah said that the Sindh government had already issued a number on which anyone, including journalists, could contact anytime if they feel that they must undergo a test for coronavirus. “The person would be contacted automatically by government functionaries for the test,” he said.
However, he added that those associated with the health functionaries, including doctors, nurses and paramedics, were more vulnerable to get affected by the virus.
The information minister said that first of all, they had to make sure that they had been provided with all the precautionary tools before the checking of the people affected by the coronavirus.
Speaking about the drastic measures adopted by the Sindh government to control the spread of coronavirus, Shah said that although it was an extremely difficult decision to ban congregation prayers, including the Friday prayers, they had been left with no other choice if the people’s lives were to be saved.
He said that this decision was taken only after consulting the clerics of all the schools of thoughts. He said that it was imperative in order to maintain social distancing.
The minister said that Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Noor-ul-Haq Qadri was also on board while taking this decision.
Shah said that according to the new directives, there was no ban on calls for prayers, but only the staff of the mosques of maximum four to five people could offer prayers at mosques and thanked all the clerics for endorsing this tough decision of the Sindh government.
Similarly, in order to ensure social distancing the complete lockdown timings had also been increased and now all the shops, including that of groceries, vegetables, fruits and dairy shops, would now be shut down at 5 pm instead of earlier timings of 8 pm daily till the situation improved, the minister added.
Shah said that the people engaged delivering essential services had not been banned since day one of the lockdown. After the announcement made by the Prime Minister about the restoration of goods transport, the things would further become clear, he said.
He said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had appreciated the measures adopted by the Sindh government to control the spread of the coronavirus.
Shah said that the Sindh government was also ensuring that the patients of Thalassemia might not get affected during the lockdown.
He said that funds, as well as a mechanism for providing ration to needy people, had also been devised and with the help of the welfare organisations those in need would be approached quickly by the government. “Besides, quarantine centres had also been set up with the help Pakistan Army in various districts of the province, including more than 1000-bed hospital at Expo Centre in Karachi,” he said, adding that quarantine centres were also being set up in private hospitals and hotels as well.
Speaking on the occasion, the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fridous Ashiq Awan concluded the video conference while asking all provincial ministers and advisers to suggest a focal person for their respective province who could be reached for any information regarding the coronavirus pandemic.
