Pakistan to extend lockdown until April 14
islamabad — The government has decided to extend the ongoing lockdown for another two weeks until April 14 to contain the spread of novel coronavirus in the country, reports The Express Tribune.
Speaking at a Press conference on Wednesday, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said the decision was taken at a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Covid-19 held here.
The minister said that Pakistanis stranded in foreign countries will be brought back in a special PIA flight on April 4.
The passengers will be first tested and sent for quarantine to ensure they do not spread the coronavirus, he added.
“Lockdown throughout the country is bearing fruit as the number of cases would have been much higher if containment steps were not taken in a timely manner,” the minister said.
PM’s aide on national security,
Moeed Yusuf said 17 PIA planes will be dispatched to different destinations to bring back 2,000 stranded Pakistanis.
More labs to test Covid-19
Meanwhile, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chairman Lt-Gen Mohammed Afzal has said that at present 20 coronavirus testing laboratories were fully functional in the country while 12 more would be established soon to meet the target of 32 laboratories.
In a briefing to Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said the first consignment of 57,000 testing kits had arrived from China, while 192,000 more kits would reach Pakistan in a couple of days, taking the total number of available kits to 280,000.
The prime minister was presiding over a meeting to review the coronavirus situation and measures to control the pandemic.
The meeting decided that private hospitals should also be asked to allocate beds and other facilities for coronavirus patients.
The meeting decided to form a National Command Centre for a more coordinated response against the coronavirus outbreak. The centre, headed by Lt-Gen. Mehmooduz-Zaman, became operational with immediate effect. —
I want our youth to play their role in helping our fight against the Covid-19 by joining our Corona Tiger Force which will be organised to do jihad against the suffering caused by this pandemic Imran Khan @ImranKhanPTI