Center Suggests ‘Smart’ Lockdowns as Restrictions Near Second Month - Android
The federal govt has suggested that provinces opt for ‘smart’ lockdowns, closing only the areas that are virus hotspots while… Read More
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The federal govt has suggested that provinces opt for ‘smart’ lockdowns, closing only the areas that are virus hotspots while freeing movement and activity in others.
The suggestion comes as the country began gradual resumption of select industries and businesses last week despite the virus numbers swelling continually with the country set to see its outbreak peak mid-May.
“We need to go for smart lockdown and let the other areas of the country remain open. Only those areas should be sealed from where cases are reported and other areas should remain open,” said Dr Moeed Yusuf, PM’s aide on National Security and Strategic Policy Planning.
But, for such target lockdowns to happen, the country’s testing capacity would need to be drastically improved, which, he said, the govt was tirelessly working on.
So far, over 8,300 people have tested positive for the virus in Pakistan while deaths linked to Covid-19 have crossed 170. About 65% of the new cases are now of local transmission. Punjab has reported most cases with its tally nearing 4,000, followed by Sindh, KP, Balochistan, GB, Islamabad, and AJK.
Here are the latest updates:
A Pakistan International Airlines flight that will bring back stranded Pakistanis from Dubai on Monday morning departed for the port city from Lahore.
Another flight that is coming to Pakistan from London will also stopover in Dubai to pick up some Pakistanis before flying back home.
-Geo.tv
New Zealand will next week ease some of the world’s strictest lockdown measures taken to tackle the novel coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday, after a month of tight restrictions slowed the spread of the disease.
The Pacific nation of 5 million introduced its highest, level 4 lockdown measures in late March, shutting down offices, schools and all non-essential services including bars, restaurants, cafes and playgrounds.
New Zealand move out of alert level 4 on April 27, a few days longer than the scheduled one-month lockdown, after which it will be in alert level 3 for two weeks, Ardern said in a news conference.
-Reuters
PM’s aide on overseas Pakistanis, Zulfikar Bukhari, has said that more than 6,500 Pakistanis stranded abroad will be repatriated between April 20 and 28.
He advised passengers to familiarize themselves with travel SOPs before getting on board to avoid any inconvenience. Bukhari also shared a list of scheduled flights.
The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), which is the nerve centre of the national Covid-19 containment activities, has prepared a 48-day strategy.
The strategy has pre-Ramazan, Ramazan, and post-Ramazan components, all of which aim at educating and informing the public about the potential risks, advocating adherence to social distancing practices and other containment measures, preparing the people for observance during the holy month under the special circumstances, and ultimately preventing the spread of the disease.
The NCOC’s campaign, which has already gone into the execution phase over the past couple of days, is titled “Zindagi Rawan, Zara Fasla Mehrban”.
-Dawn
My message for people is to stay home as much as possible during this pandemic. The more people show self-discipline, the easier it will be for us to manage the COVID19 plus ease the lockdown gradually pic.twitter.com/YEOS4Hb6iu
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 20, 2020
Workers on Monday started returning to factories and industries located in the Landhi and Korangi areas of Karachi as the government eased a lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Safety measures, in line with instructions of the provincial authorities, are in place at entrances of the factories and industries. Public transport has also started returning to the roads after a two-week hiatus.
-Geo.tv
The deliberate & violent targeting of Muslims in India by Modi Govt to divert the backlash over its COVID19 policy, which has left thousands stranded & hungry, is akin to what Nazis did to Jews in Gerrmany. Yet more proof of the racist Hindutva Supremacist ideology of Modi Govt.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 19, 2020
KP Government thanks our medical staff for raising to the occasion and discharging their duties in the most challenging times of our history pic.twitter.com/pcAhLmfoe6
— Mahmood Khan (@IMMahmoodKhan) April 19, 2020
Health ministers from the Group of 20 major economies discussed weaknesses in health systems that made the world vulnerable to the coronavirus outbreak and other pandemics, a statement said after a virtual meeting on Sunday.
“Health Ministers recognised that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted systemic weaknesses in health systems,” the statement said. “It also has shown vulnerabilities in the global community’s ability to prevent and respond to pandemic threats.”
The statement said the ministers adopted preventative measures to contain the pandemic, but did not elaborate.
-Reuters
For our coronavirus coverage from April 19, click here.
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