World hailed Pakistan’s COVID-19 handling: Dr Arif Alvi

Islamabad:As the world acknowledged Pakistan’s handling of coronavirus pandemic, President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday asked the nation to keep up its ''potential of greatness''.

"My dear Pakistanis, you cared for the poor, continued to pray to Allah and here you are where the world praises you," he said in a tweet. The President said the world was now giving a deserving recognition of work done by Pakistani nation on COVID-19."So you my friends, belong to a rising nation, let nobody distract you from your true potential of greatness," he said.

President Alvi mentioned the statement by a US former United States Treasury Secretary and top economist Larry Summers lauded Pakistan’s handling of coronavirus pandemic, saying that the US would have saved trillions had it followed a similar plan.

"America’s failure on COVID-19 is almost unimaginable," Summers said. "Heck, if the US had handled the pandemic as well as Pakistan, we would have saved in neighbourhood of $10 trillion.

"Summers was referring to the policy of ‘smart lockdown’ adopted by Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government policy that helped contain the spread of the deadly virus.

President Alvi also referred to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who also praised Pakistan, saying country managed to fight the pandemic while allowing its economy to pick up as the country stabilised.