Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday, once again emphasizing upon creation of public awareness about the severity of Covid-19 and the need for strictly adhering to standard operating procedures (SOPs) to contain its spread, said Pakistan is amongst the pioneers of smart lockdown approach.

In a series of tweets, the prime minister observed that a 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 world has discovered is smart lockdown which allows for economic activity with SOPs. We are amongst pioneers of this approach,” he posted.

The prime minister appealed to the civil society, media, ulema and the Tiger Force to create awareness amongst the public of Covid-19’s severity and the need to strictly observe SOPs. He also tagged a video clip from a private TV programme in which the interviewees were expressing their carelessness about the pandemic. “This video shows the dilemma confronting our govt today: On the one hand we have the masses who are not taking the COVID19 pandemic seriously & on the other hand, understandably, we have our frontline doctors & health professionals, who are at great risk, & some of our elite wanting a lockdown – the elite who have the privilege of spacious homes & income unaffected by fallout of lockdown,” he further posted. Separately, Prime Minister Imran Khan shared an Urdu poem on his Twitter account, urging the youth to understand and emulate in their lives the message conveyed in it by utilizing their hidden capacities. The prime minister further said that in his life, he stood by this message and tried to follow it.