Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday said with no vaccination developed for the Covid-19 pandemic so far, the people will have to learn to live with the contagion for about a year and protect themselves by following the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), including social distancing, advised by health experts from across the world.

“We have put in our minds that we have to live with the coronavirus at least by the end of this year. And it is our responsibility to take precautionary measures and protect ourselves [from this disease],” he said in a televised media briefing about the latest situation of Covid-19 in the country.

Minister for Planning Asad Umar, Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood, PM’s Focal Person on Covid-19 Dr Faisal Sultan, Special Assistant to PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza, Special Assistant to PM on Social Safety and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar and Special Assistant to PM on National Security Moeed Yusuf were also present.

The prime minister said if he had any surety of disease ending in two or three months, he would have gone for a complete lockdown for three months and had made arrangements to reach out to the poor and deserving with food items at their doorsteps. “The experts and scientists from across the world have not found any treatment of the coronavirus, and the vaccine will also not be available this year,” he noted, adding that as the virus spreads fast through gatherings and crowds, the people are required to strictly follow SOPs and guidelines to protect themselves from the deadly contagion.

Imran Khan said the countries and regions, which opted for lockdown after the outbreak of coronavirus, including Wuhan (China), South Korea, Singapore and Japan, are witnessing another spike in the virus after reopening their cities. “Now we in Pakistan like other countries in the world also have to live with this virus,” he remarked.

The prime minister questioned the country’s medical professionals whether Pakistan, which hardly gave an 8-billion-dollar stimulus economic package in contrast to the United States’ 2,200 billion dollars, Germany’s 1,000 billion Euros and Japan’s 1,000 billion dollars, can afford a continued lockdown. He said he has been saying from the very first day that if Pakistan continued with the lockdown, it will not only hit the economy badly but also the poor, daily wagers, workers, etc.

The prime minister referred to a survey of 2017-18 and said 25 million people in Pakistan are dependent on either daily or weekly incomes. The lockdown has affected around 150 million people in the country, he said. “How long can the people affected and unemployed due to the lockdown survive on the cash assistance of Rs 12,000 provided by the government?” he questioned.

Imran Khan said the government is taking all decisions in consultation, coordination and consensus with all the provinces through the forums of National Coordination Committee (NCC) and National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), which are doing well. He said at a time when most of the countries in the world are striving to save their economies from Covid-19 effects, his government’s focus is on saving the poor from hunger, besides the coronavirus disease.

The prime minister said with the blessings of Allah Almighty and due to the measures taken by the government after the outbreak of coronavirus, the situation of disease in Pakistan when compared with the developed countries is better and under control. As against the earlier projections of 52,695 coronavirus cases with 1,324 deaths till May 14, the Covid-19 cases in Pakistan till May 13 stood at 35,700 infections and 770 deaths, and hospitals are still not overwhelmed, he said.

The prime minister, however, cautioned that as the coronavirus cases in the country will rise, the people should continue to follow the SOPs to protect themselves from the contagion. He said as more businesses are being opened in the wake of economic difficulties of the poor, the owners of factories and shops will be responsible to ensure that the SOPs are strictly followed. In this respect, he also urged the Corona Relief Tiger Force to work hard for raising awareness among the general public.

On the issue of public transport, the prime minister said though consensus is yet to be reached in this regard, yet he will request the provinces to consider the opening of public transport for the benefit of the people. He said as the public transport is mainly used by common man, poor and labourers, the countries like the United States, Europe and England did not shut their public transport services.