Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday warned of a spike in cases of the deadly coronavirus if the public ignored the standard operating procedures (SOPs) during the coming days.
PM Imran’s cautionary comments came almost three weeks after he advised people not to repeat “what they did on Eidul Fitr” and exercise extra caution on Eidul Azha so that the coronavirus does not resurge.
In a televised address to the nation, he said that the situation of Pakistan 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 than the rest of the world as most of its daily wagers were unregistered.
“[At least] 70-80 per cent of labourers in our country are not registered; therefore, our approach had to be different from the European countries. We could not take any drastic steps like imposing a curfew. We were afraid that more people will die from starvation and poverty than coronavirus itself,” he added.
“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 objectives to provide cushion to the vulnerable segment of the society.
“There’s no precedent of the Ehsaas program in the world, [one] where the impoverished segment of the society was aided through transparent and synchronized 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 compared 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 examples 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 the SOPs in the upcoming days, noting: “If we will not be cautious during the Eidul Azha and Muharram period, we might again see a spike of cases that will be devastating for the country. We have an example of Eidul Fitr, where we were reluctant to abide by the SOPs, the frontline workers were hugely impacted and we saw a surge in cases.”
The prime minister said that “our research” suggested that the most effective measure to keep the virus at bay was to wear face masks. “It is quite simple and an easy preventive measure to adopt,” he said.
“I am once again asking you all to be careful about the SOPS during the Eidul Azha period,” he urged. “If the nation will cooperate, we have to resume our main sectors of the country including business, construction, and tourism. We have to come back to normalcy. We will resume schools, universities, and restaurants if the numbers for the virus keep on declining. We have to battle the disease collectively as a nation together,” he added.
