ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday chaired a meeting of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chief ministers via video link to review coronavirus situation, ARY NEWS reported.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Affairs Dr Zafar Mirza briefed the meeting on the virus statistics, its spread in the hotspots, rate of testing and availability of medical facilities to cater the virus patients.
The meeting was also briefed over availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the doctors and paramedics and measures needed to improve health facilities in both the provinces.
Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that they had to create balance between avoiding hunger and coronavirus. “Lockdown is only a temporary measure to avoid coronavirus not a cure of it,” he said adding that they had to take decisions keeping in view their ground realities.
He said that the shutdown of business has caused unbearable losses to the country’s economy.
Terming coronavirus a reality, Imran Khan stressed upon the masses to adopt preventive measures to avoid it. “We had to implement the devised standard operating procedures (SOPs) at all cost,” he said while stressing upon the need to launch awareness campaign among masses to adopt the preventive measures.
He further directed the provincial authorities to ensure that police treat the masses in a friendly manner during lockdown.
Read More: Punjab reports 336 new coronavirus cases, 9 deaths
It is pertinent to mention here that the number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan has soar to 35,778 as 1,452 new cases of the infection were reported in last twenty four hours, said National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Thursday.
According to the national dashboard, confirmed positive cases reported in Sindh have risen to 13, 341, in Punjab 13,561, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 5,252, in Balochistan 2,239 in Islamabad 822, in Gilgit Baltistan 482, and in Azad Kashmir 91.
So far 9,695 people have recovered their health from the virus, while 25,323 patients are still battling the pandemic in the country.
