Daily Times

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar Saturday said that strictly following the precautionary measures to stop the spread of coronavirus is utmost necessary on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha.

“By the grace of Allah Almighty, sincere efforts of the government as well as the cooperation of the people have greatly helped to deal with coronavirus. The people should not let go precautionary measures on Eid-ul-Adha, as well,” the chief minister said. “By following the principle of ‘stay at home, remain safe” on Eid-ul-Azha, citizens should protect themselves and others from virus. People’s cooperation is the only way to cope with Covid-19,” he added.

He said that less interaction will help the less spread of this disease. He said that the opposition with negative politics made unsuccessful effort to divide the nation on Corona pandemic issue. He further maintained that nation will never forgive such elements. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the government’s policy of smart lockdown has proved successful. Those who are doing Criticism for the sake of criticism should keep quiet, now. He said that the leadership of PTI had not left the people alone in the Corona epidemic, whereas, leaders of Opposition were remained busy in just issuing statements by leaving the people alone in their difficult times. Corona has affect the world politically, socially and economically.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said that legal action will be taken against those who are involved in buying and selling sacrificial animals in urban areas without any discrimination. He said that action should be taken against the sellers according to the law. He directed that administration and police should stop the sale and purchase of sacrificial animals in the city limits besides strictly enforcement on Corona SOPs on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha. “No one can be allowed to violate SOPs,” he added. Administration and police officers themselves go out to the field to review the situation. Implementation on SOPs is in the interest of the citizens, he concluded.

Separately, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said that efforts made to stop coronavirus are now giving desirable results. He said that by the grace of Allah Almighty, 65009 patients have been recovered out of 89465 infected patients in Punjab, so far. He said that so far 634246 tests have been conducted in Punjab. He revealed that 442 patients were infected whereas 8 people died with corona during last 24 hours.

He said that the better results are being surfaced because of Smart Lockdown. Number of patients in hospitals has significantly decreased. The numbers of High Dependency Units in Punjab are 2546 out of which 2240 High Dependency Units are still vacated. Similarly, in Punjab there are 507 out of 600 in ICUs are vacated. While in Lahore out of 508 High Dependency Units 442 are still freed and out of 210 ICUs in Lahore 166 are empty. Usman Buzdar said that Punjab government has provided all necessary resources for the treatment of Corona affected patients. He said that SOPs should strictly be got implemented on Eid-ul-Adha. He appealed to the citizen to celebrate Eid with simplicity and take precautionary measures while performing sacrifices.

This was stated by him while presiding over a high level meeting at CM’s Office, today. The meeting reviewed the measures taken to deal with the spread of Corona pandemic, the results of the smart lockdown and the arrangements made to provide treatment for the covid-19 affacted patients. The meeting was attended by Provincial Minister for Health Dr. Yasmeen Rashid, Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary Infrastructure, Secretary Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Punjab and Secretary Primary and Secondary Health.