ISLAMABAD, Apr 23 (APP):Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday called for joint coordinated efforts and effective strategies to combat the global coronavirus pandemic.
“COVID-19 is a common enemy and we need a common agenda, a common strategy to deal with the situation,” he said while speaking at a video conference of the health ministers from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries to benefit from one another’s experiences regarding the pandemic.
The foreign minister assured the participants of conference that Pakistan wanted to work in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) and international institutions to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.
The video conference of health ministers from SAARC countries was called on the request of Pakistan to benefit from one another’s experiences regarding the coronavirus.
The foreign minister lauded debt the relief measures by G-20 countries, International Monetary Fund and World Bank for the developing countries, including Pakistan, which, he said, would help the latter in dealing with the pandemic and supporting their economies.
Apprising the participants about the efforts made by Pakistan to tackle the challenge, he said Pakistan was facing both the COVID-19 pandemic and economic challenges, and trying its best to counter the two.
He said joint coordinated efforts were required to defeat the virus and added that Pakistan would emerge successful due to the fearless work done by its doctors, health workers and paramedics to fight the war from the front.
Like the rest of the world, he said, Pakistan had also imposed a partial lockdown to control the spread of the virus. The country was also discussing, like the rest of the world, impacts of a complete lockdown on its economy and poor people, he added. “As the situation evolves from country to country we will have to adjust to our own ground realities.”
Qureshi said it was a defining moment in the history as the world had not seen a challenge like it since the Second World War. He paid tributes to the health workers, who had laid down their lives in the war.
About the collective response of Pakistani leadership to the pandemic, the foreign minister said both the federal and provincial governments were working in unison to counter the COVID-19.
He said at the federal level a National Coordination Committee (NCC) and National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had been set up to deal with the situation along with the provincial governments.
The foreign minister said till Thursday Pakistan had confirmed 224 deaths from the novel coronavirus while the total number of cases had surged to 10,513. The number was unfortunately rising as the country was at the peak of the virus, he said and added that fortunately, Pakistan was quick to develop a national coordination plan to counter the virus.
The National Action Plan had been prepared with the consultation of Federal Government, NDMA and provincial governments, he added.
The foreign minister said as initial estimates Pakistan required $ 595 million to overcome gaps in its health system, which was still fragile like many developing countries.
He said Pakistan had limited number of testing facilities, inadequate system for isolation and quarantine, lack of trained staff, equipment, and weak surveillance system to monitor the spread of virus.
He, however, said Pakistan was addressing the challenges according to its resources and had taken a number of initiatives. He said 124,549 tests had so far been done. The testing facility was 11,000 tests per day, which by the end of the month it would be increased to 25,000, he added.
He said the positive rate of the COVID-19 in Pakistan was 8 percent, the country had 70 rapid response teams in place but the requirements were far high. Pakistan had 154 districts and it required 124 at least rapid response force teams.
He said a countrywide lockdown had been imposed and it had been eased in certain areas to save the people from starvation. “We feel we will be closed to 200,000 cases by July this year and for it the country needs to increase its testing capacity to at least 20,000 tests a day, and increase the number of laboratories to at least 154.”
He said Pakistan had made a considerable improvement in the last few weeks.
Qureshi said Pakistan needed at least 10,000 ventilators, besides other equipment to deal with the immediate challenge.
“I encourage bilateral, multi-lateral to join hands with the Government of Pakistan to strengthen our health infrastructure. COVID-19 is a common enemy and we need a common agenda, a common strategy sector, we need a common strategy to deal with the situation.”
Qureshi thanked the IMF Managing Director, World Band President and United Nations Secretary General for initiating advocacy for getting financial relief to the developing countries.
He said Prime Minister Imran Khan on April 12 had launched a global appeal for relief to the developing countries in debt due to suffering of their economies from COVID-19. He himself had also spoken to at least 30 foreign ministers so far.
They were a fiscal space to save lives and to give the economic stimulus, he added.
