Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday said Pakistan was a nuclear state but it was strange that it could not make its own ventilators and test kits and had to import them.
In a private TV telethon, he urged the nation to adopt as much precaution as possible to check the fast spread of the novel coronavirus. He said besides using its own resources, the government was raising funds because the impact of the COVID-19 will worsen further. He emphasised that there was a danger of further spread of the virus and those confining themselves as much as possible would be safe. He said there was a greater risk of the virus spread in big gatherings and emphasised social distancing, as in case of rapid spread of the virus, pressure on hospitals would increase accordingly and there were not enough ventilators for 4 to 5 per cent people needing to be shifted to the ICU or needing emergency care.
He said with increased care, there would be lesser spread of the virus. He noted that initially decisions weremade all of a sudden and one province straight away went for the lockdown, to which he had not agreed, as locking down 220 million people was an impossible thing to do.
The lockdown was imposed when there were 26 confirmed cases and not a single person had died. Keeping in view the data and the evolving situation, decisions should have been made, he said, adding that the lockdown added to poverty and rendered daily wagers and labourers jobless.
He pointed out that the situation in Pakistan was entirely different to the one in Europe or the United States and noted that once the virus spread, even the most advanced city in the world like New York could not do much.
He noted that maintaining social distancing in poor localities was impossible, where even clean drinking water was not available. He wondered how could there be social distancing when eight people would sleep in one room.
In the past, he regretted nobody thought about the wellbeing of the down-trodden and there was no registration of informal labour in the country. He assured the nation that provision of financial assistance to the deserving families under the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme (EECP) would be purely transparent, merit-based and apolitical and without any meddling.
He maintained again that continuous lockdown adversely impacted the global economy, and the pandemic did not even spare Pakistan. “The government would launch a website within next few days, where philanthropists would be able to provide financial assistance to the poor,” he said.
The prime minister expressed confidence that Pakistan would emerge victorious in the fight against coronavirus through coordinating efforts of all stakeholders concerned and with full support and cooperation of the nation.
He said in spite of limited resources, Pakistan announced a historic package to provide relief to the corona-hit population, covering various segments and sectors of life. The prime minister assured that the government would provide every possible facility to the frontline paramedical staff, engaged in treating patients in various hospitals.
He said services of doctors and paramedics registered with the Prime Minister's Corona Relief Tiger Force would be hired to mitigate the adverse impacts of the pandemic. In a related development, the prime minister extended the date of registration with the Corona Relief Tiger Force and thanked those, who have got themselves registered so far.
“I want to pay tribute to you on behalf of the nation that you decided at this difficult time to wage this jehad against the virus along with us,” he said in a video message. The prime minister said so far 0.85 million had got themselves registered with the force adding that the government wanted to more to be its members that was the date of registration had been extended from April 10 to April 15.
“Our effort is that our health workers, including doctors, nurses and those having experience in medicines, should register with us, as God willing, as the force is being established, the difficulties in the coming days and weeks will be fought collectively by the nation, including the army, the administration, bureaucracy and the Tiger Force,” he said. The prime minister wanted those related to the health sector be part of the force by April 15.
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