Imran shoots down Sindh’s call for complete lockdown

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has reportedly rejected the Sindh chief minister’s recommendation to impose a two-week strict nationwide lockdown as the government struggled to contain the third wave of the coronavirus that saw over 4,000 daily cases for the sixth straight day.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had said earlier in the day that the government should impose a complete lockdown across the country for two weeks to stem the spread of the virus, criticising the half measures. “You either have a lockdown, or don’t,” Shah said in Islamabad, where he had attended a graft hearing in an accountability court.

Reacting to his comments, the Prime Minister, while chairing a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) via video link, said Pakistan could not afford a complete lockdown, adding that the measure would adversely impact daily wage earners across the country, Geo News reported.

He said, for the time being, the government would continue with its smart lockdown approach which had proved successful so far, adding that it was imperative to exercise even more caution during the third wave of the coronavirus.

The interior minister later confirmed to reporters that there were no plans to impose a complete lockdown and, instead, a “massive campaign” was being launched to make sure masks are worn at public places.

The minister said the Prime Minister “spoke with all the provinces’ chief secretaries and chief ministers including Usman Buzdar and Murad Ali Shah and [it was decided] that a campaign will be launched from today on mask-wearing,” Rashid said. “No decision has been taken yet on a lockdown,” he said. The development came as the country reported 78 deaths and 4,757 positive cases during the 24 hour period leading to Wednesday. At least 3,912 coronavirus patients were admitted in hospitals across the country. A total of 667,957 cases had been recorded across the country, while the death toll was 14,434.

Authorities in Lahore, meanwhile, registered 627 cases over violations of corona-related standard operating procedures (SOPs) including not wearing of face-masks.

The police registered 312 criminal complaints over SOPs violations, social distancing and commercial activities schedule, whereas 315 FIRs were lodged against persons for not following the government directions of wearing safety masks.