Minister thanks clerics, citizens for observing ‘complete’ lockdown on Friday

Sindh Minister for Information and Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has thanked the people of the province, especially the people of Karachi, saying that the way people followed the government-announced lockdown on Friday and stayed at their homes even for prayers was really exemplary.

In a statement, he said that the Sindh government needed the same kind of cooperation from its people to get rid of the current pandemic. "The more people cooperate with the government regarding the lockdown, the sooner we will get rid of this pandemic," he said.

Shah said that banning prayer congregations whether that of Friday prayers and daily prayers was a tough decision for the Sindh government, but the government had no other choice.

He also thanked the clerics of all the sects saying that the way all the religious leaders cooperated with the government and endorsed the ban on congregrational prayers in mosques was also exemplary. This would not have been possible without the cooperation of the religious scholars, he said.

He said that before taking such a tough decision, clerics of all the sects were taken into confidence as the congregational prayers were restricted in accordance with their suggestions.

Shah said that the only option available to prevent the spread of the coronavirus was to adopt all the necessary precautionary measures, as so far no vaccine or any other treatment had been developed to cure a person affected by the virus.

The government was taking whatever possible steps could be taken to prevent the spread of the virus in Sindh, he added. He said the government was also increasing its testing capacity in this regard to get a clear picture about how many people had been affected in the province.

Shah said that the Sindh government was trying its best to adopt all those measures that could help in stopping the spread of the virus locally, as, according to the health experts social, distancing was the only best preventive measure.

He said that this was the only reason the government had extended the duration of the lockdown period in Sindh. He said that the government was very well aware of the sufferings of the people because of the lockdown, especially that of the daily wagers.

He said the government was working day and night to address the sufferings of not only the daily-wagers, but also all those families who had been affected by the lockdown.

The information minister hoped that due to the government's measures, soon all of us would get rid of the caronovirus pandemic, and once again our mosques, educational institutions, markets, parks, and play grounds would be crowded with students, children and other people. But, he said, for time being, we should be careful, stay at home, adopt social distancing for ourselves, our loved ones and for other people until we get rid of the pandemic completely.