Pakistan cannot afford to go into a lockdown again, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Tuesday, urging everyone to strictly follow the preventive measures against the novel coronavirus.
Addressing a Cabinet meeting in the federal capital, PM Imran Khan said the provincial governments needed to ensure the implementation of the Trace, Test & Quarantine (TTQ), and smart lockdown strategies pertaining to the coronavirus.
“The country cannot afford lockdown again,” the premier said after the Cabinet meeting was briefed on the COVID-19 situation across the nation.
Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar — who also heads the National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) — and the premier’s aide on health, Dr Faisal Sultan, informed the Cabinet that the number of coronavirus patients, as well as virus-related deaths, was increasing,
Adherence to the COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) needed to be ensured, Umar and Sultan said, following which the Cabinet decided that Pakistan would not go into a fresh lockdown despite the rising number of cases.
