Daily Times

For the first time in history of Punjab Assembly budget session 2020 will be held outside Punjab assembly premises due to covid 19.

Earlier, Avari hotel was selected as venue but due to lesser space it was decided to shift the venue to a bigger place, Flatties hotel is adjacent to Punjab assembly so it will be more feasible for members.

Security plan and management for the session is under process.

According to sources, assembly secretariat will make announcement after approval from PA speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.

Notably, the government in Pakistan is considering the imposition of another countrywide lockdown if the COVID-19 situation continues to get worse. For Pakistan, flattening the curve and containing the virus’ spread by imposing a lockdown may have already become irrelevant.

The utility of the lockdown was highest when the crisis was at an early stage and limited to Pakistan’s urban areas. With the virus’ spread now hitting all corners of the country and transmission patterns developing in rural areas, it is unclear if another lockdown is the solution or if it can be implemented at all.

Pakistan’s hospitals are already operating above their capacity and turning away patients. Officially, the tally of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan has surpassed 60,000. So far, more than 1,200 people have died all across Pakistan. During the last 24 hours alone, around 2,400 people affected by the COVID-19 were admitted to public hospitals or facilities created by the government.

According to the latest figures, Pakistan only has around 4,000 ventilators, of which 2,200 are possessed by public sector hospitals. During the last two days, more than 150 people were put on the ventilators across the country.