Next fundraising telethon to be held in Ramadan, Firdous Ashiq Awan

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan paid tribute to medics on Thursday and said that the doctors and paramedics were fighting an invisible force, ARY NEWS reported.

In a video message, Firdous Ashiq Awan said that they could not adopt the Saudi or Turkish model of lockdown due to economic situation in Pakistan and were trying to facilitate the poor segments of the society through its efforts.

“Even the most developed countries could not provide ration to masses at their homes for a longer period,” she said adding that they had to set aside their differences to fight against coronavirus.

She said that the government was increasing the number of isolation wards and quarantine facilities to cater the rising number of COVID-19 cases. “We are also improving our testing capacity,” she said adding that both the civil society and government had to jointly fight against the virus.

She lauded those who contributed to the PM’s Ehsaas Telethon and said that the next fundraising telethon event would be held in Ramadan.

“We will not leave the masses alone in the testing times as it is the state’s responsibility to provide relief to every citizen,” she said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday the government is mulling the option of imposing a “smart lockdown” to curb further spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.

Speaking during Ehsaas programme Live Telethon which was telecast by a number of TV channels, including ARY News, he said the government aims to provide relief to the labour class, daily wage earners and the weak segment of society.

Prime Minister Khan stressed the need for “national unity and coordinated efforts” to ride out the coronavirus crisis.

He said the government announced a historic relief package for the poor to mitigate their suffering during the lockdown, billing the Ehsaas Cash Emergency Programme a transparent and merit-based scheme.