Lockdown means collapse of economy: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday made an appeal to the civil society, media and Ulema and the Tiger Force to create awareness amongst public of COVID-19’s severity and the need to strictly observe standard operating procedures (SOPs).

In tweets, the prime minister said that the lockdown meant collapse of the economy and in poorer countries, a steep rise in poverty, crushing the poor, as happened in Modi’s lockdown in India.

“Only solution, as wworld has discovered is smart lockdown which allows for economic activity with SOPs. We are amongst pioneers of this approach. I appeal to civil society, media, Ulema and our Tiger Force to create awareness amongst the public of COVID-19’s severity and the need to strictly observe SOPs,” he said.

The prime minister also wrote, “Wanting a lockdown - the elite who have the privilege of spacious homes and income unaffected by fallout of lockdown. A lockdown means collapse of the economy and in poorer countries a steep rise in poverty, crushing the poor as happened in Modi’s lockdown in India.”

Referring to the video, also posted on his Twitter account, the prime minister said, “This video shows the dilemma confronting our govt today: On the one hand we have the masses who are not taking the COVID-19 pandemic seriously and on the other hand, understandably, we have our frontline doctors and health professionals, who are at great risk, and some of our elite, who want lockdown.”