Follow SOPs, don't throw caution to the winds on Eidul Azha, PM urges masses

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan appealed to the masses to celebrate upcoming Eidul Azha with simplicity and not to be careless and brush aside the government-defined health guidelines to keep coronavirus at bay.

Speaking to the media after inaugurating Isolation Hospital and Infectious Treatment Center in the capital, the prime minister stressed that people should not throw caution to the wind this Eid as they did on Eidul Fitr, which, according to him, lead to a rapid increase in the number of cases, piling pressure on hospitals and healthcare workers.

“Eid is coming, we should not do what we did the previous Eid,” the prime minister emphasised, adding the country saw a surge in coronavirus cases following Eidul Fitr as the disease peaked.

He said the Covid-19 curve is flattening because of the government’s steps and provinces’ cooperation.

“We didn’t hope that it will go down so soon and expected it to peak by July-end,” PM Khan said, adding: “Pakistan is among a few countries where the number of infections is going down.”

He cautioned that the virus will spread rapidly if people exhibited carelessness, urging them to celebrate this Eid with simplicity and follow the SOPs.

The 250-bed isolation hospital has been constructed in record forty days at a cost of about Rs980 million. It will meet additional requirements to ease pressure on the capital’s hospitals.

The isolation hospital’s charge has been handed over to the National Disaster Management Authority. NDMA Chairman Lt. General Muhammad Afzal briefed the prime minister about the health facility.

Planning Minister Asad Umar, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing, and other senior officials were also present on the occasion.