ISLAMABAD, May 15 (APP):Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday said with no vaccination developed for the COVID-19 pandemic so far, the people should learn to live with the contagion for about a year and save them by following the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), including social distancing, advised by the health experts from across the world.
“We have to 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 the PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza, Special Assistant to the PM on Social Safety and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar and Special Assistant to the PM on National Security Moeed Yusuf were also present.
The prime minister said if he had any surety of the COVID-19 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 said.
Imran Khan said as the virus spread fast through gatherings and crowds, the people were required to strictly follow the SOPs and guidelines to protect themselves from the deadly contagion.
He said the countries and regions, which had opted for lockdown after the outbreak of coronavirus including Wuhan (China), South Korea, Singapore and Japan, were 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.
Imran Khan said besides the disruption in the immunization campaigns for diseases like polio and tuberculosis, the COVID-19 situation had also affected the country’s education system.
Due to the measures taken by the government, he said, there was no problem in the supply of food items during the holy month of Ramazan and no undue price hike was witnessed.
The prime minister also mentioned the reduction of petroleum prices in the country and said the prices petroleum products in Pakistan were 40 to 50 percent lower when compared with other regional countries.
He urged the people not to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr, which was different from the previous years due to the coronavirus, as a usual family occasion, and exercise caution and follow the SOPs to protect themselves from the deadly contagion.
The prime minister hoped that the people of Pakistan would emerge as a strong nation from the current challenge of coronavirus.
Minister for Planning Asad Umar thanked the media for its support in the creation of public awareness about the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the media should also highlight the problems faced by the poor due to the coronavirus situation.
He said the government was following a coordinated approach and strategy to deal with the situation arising out of the coronavirus. The testing capacity had been enhanced 27 times since March and the number of testing laboratories had been increased to 70 from two.
The planning minister said progress had been achieved on the method of TTQ (Trace, Track and Quarantine) for the coronavirus lockdown, under which only a specific street or area was sealed.
Prime Minister’s Focal Person on COVID-19 Dr Faisal Sultan said as Pakistan was among the five countries having maximum TB cases, the coronavirus situation had affected the immunization campaigns for TB.
He said the latest estimates showed 6.3 million additional TB cases with 1.4 million deaths across the world due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Pakistan being a high burden country could go 5 to 8 years behind in terms of TB.
Similarly, Dr Faisal Sultan said, 55 percent decrease was recorded in scheduled visits of children at vaccination centers, besides increase in perinatal and antenatal mortality.
Special Assistant to PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said with some problems in the supply of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to medical professionals in the initial days, the system was now smooth after direct supply of PPE to hospitals across the country.
He said the government’s foremost priority was the protection of doctors, nurses and other medical staff, who were at the front line to fight the coronavirus.
Dr Zafar Mirza said a programme was initiated to train the medical professionals to deal with COVID-19 and for the purpose arrangements had been made at five medical universities.
He said that a US company had developed a medicine to treat COVID-19 and Pakistan was one of the six countries where the medicine would be produced as an agreement to the effect had been signed.
Dr Zafar Mirza said according to the agreement Pakistan, besides catering to its own needs, would also export the medicine to 127 countries.
Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood said in order to ensure the continuity of education in the country, it had been decided with consensus that students of 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th classes would be promoted to next grade on the basis of previous year’s results and giving additional 3% marks to the students of 10th and 12th classes.
Besides the tele-education system being run on PTV, he said, online education was being initiated at universities, adding Internet connectivity would be further improved to strength the system.
Special Assistant to the PM on Social Safety and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nisthar said under the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Assistance, an amount of Rs 104 billion had been distributed among the poor and deserving 8.4 million families across the country during the last five weeks at the rate of Rs 12,000 per family.
Besides, she said, under the cash assistance programme for unemployed from the PM’s Corona Relief Fund, the prime minister would start the distribution Rs 12,000 per person from Monday. Some 3.4 million people had so far applied for the assistance.
Special Assistant to the PM on National Security Moeed Yusuf said the government was fully cognizant of the problems of Pakistanis stranded abroad and was bringing 7000 to 8000 people back to country per week. The number was being raised to 11000 to 12000 per week, he added.
He said the Pakistan International Airline was bringing Pakistanis back home from different regions, including the Middle East, the United States, Africa, Nepal, Bangladesh and others. All Pakistanis stranded abroad would be brought back, he added.
Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar said the government was now opening the auto industry, including car, motorcycle and cycle manufactures, and the shops and showrooms relating to the products.
The decision regarding the opening of shopping malls, which had more regulated environment, had been left with the provinces, he added.