Sindh to unwillingly relax COVID-19 lockdown after 14th, says Nasir Hussain Shah

Sindh’s information and local government minister on Thursday said the provincial government has to unwillingly relax the lockdown in the province after April 14 because the federal administration is yet to reach a countrywide consensus on the strategy to slow down local transmission of COVID-19.

Syed Nasir Hussain Shah told a news conference that the lockdown will continue in the province until April 14, and steps will be taken to make it stricter until then to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus.

Shah said the federal government should come up with an effective nationwide strategy to combat the emergency situation in the country that has resulted from the transmission of COVID-19.

He said that had the federal government introduced preventive measures across the country in an effective manner from day one of the emergency, the situation would have been a lot better. The prime minister too was unable to take preventive steps against the virus in a timely fashion, he added.

“Hundreds of thousands of people reached Pakistan via airports before the federal government announced the lockdown in the country, as thorough screenings of these people hadn’t taken place.”

He lamented that certain elements have been unduly criticising the steps of the Sindh government against the spread of the coronavirus, despite the fact that these measures have been appreciated by the entire world.

The minister said the province’s chief minister has been striving hard since day one of the emergency to tackle the alarming health situation, adding that even then the CM had to face undue criticism from the Centre and the people associated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Shah said Sindh was the first federating unit in the country to impose a lockdown. “The alarming situation with regard to COVID-19 that persists even today would have been a lot better, had the federal government accepted our viewpoint at that time.”

He said that in view of the directives of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the provincial government had kept politics aside completely to contribute to a collective national struggle against the viral pandemic, adding that unconditional support was being extended to the Centre in this regard.

“Politics have been put in quarantine as long as the COVID-19 emergency lasts, as per the directives of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari,” said Shah.

Rations

Also present on the occasion, Education and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani said that some 400,000 needy people in the province have been provided with rations by the deputy commissioners in various districts, adding that the provincial government has been working with charities and welfare organisations in this regard.

“The Sindh government has been continuing all these efforts to distribute rations among needy families without releasing photographs or video footage of such welfare activities, as the media is also not being invited for coverage of the government’s ration drive.”

He claimed that rations were provided to needy families at their doorsteps to discourage crowding by people who otherwise have to wait in long queues to get the essential assistance. He said that private schools across the province are bound to obey the orders of the Sindh government to offer 20 per cent concession in tuition fees for two months due to the lockdown.

Ghani said that the other day he had met a delegation of a representative association of private schools, whose office-bearers had assured him of obeying the orders of the government related to the lockdown regime.

He expressed surprise that Punjab had issued a similar notification to give 20 per cent concession in fees of private schools due to the lockdown, but no such orders had been given for the federal capital’s private schools that charge their students exorbitant fees.