PM Imran rejects impression of imposing lockdown to control COVID-19

LAHORE — Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Saturday that Pakistan cannot sustain with complete lock down for a long time as its one fourth of total population is living below the poverty line.

He was addressing a news conference flanked by Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar and Provincial Minister for Health Dr Yasmin Rashid during his visit to Lahore.

He said that imposing a lockdown would have been an option if Pakistan is a rich country, adding that the government cannot close down business activities because our poor people including laborers earn their livelihood by daily wage jobs, Radio Pakistan reported.

Urging people to follow SOPs strictly, he said that the coronavirus will spread rapidly if public do not take care and adopt precautionary measures.

He said that many people are not taking this disease seriously and behaving irresponsibly due to which the virus is spreading rapidly.

Imran Khan warned that we have to ensure the implementation of SOPs otherwise stern action will be taken against the violators.

The Prime Minister said that if we enforced strict lock down, we have to face India like situation where 34 % people are starving due to lockdown.

He said we will focus on hot spots for curbing the Coronavirus instead of enforcing it.

About the federal budget, he said that people can understand the height of difficulties confronted by the government due to Corona crisis while preparing the budget for next financial year.