PM, Bill Gates discuss Covid-19 response
islamabad — Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke to Bill Gates, cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to discuss the latest developments surrounding the Covid-19 response.
During a telephonic conversation on Tuesday, the prime minister expressed appreciation for the support provided by the Gates Foundation and other international partners during the crisis and emphasized the continued urgency of the situation, a statement issued by the PM Media Office said on Wednesday.
Khan stated that Pakistan was making all efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic with a robust and coordinated response.
The prime minister emphasized that Pakistan was facing the dual challenge of overcoming the pandemic and saving people, particularly the most vulnerable segments of the population, from hunger due to lockdown.
He underlined that the government had put together a $8 billion package to support the affected people and businesses.
Gates pointed out how Covid-19 was a threat across the world.
He commended Pakistan’s efforts in protecting the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable populations.
Khan and Gates also discussed their shared priority of polio eradication. They discussed the important role that Pakistan’s polio staff and infrastructure were playing in the fight against Covid-19.
The polio teams were supporting the training of front line polio health workers on Covid-19, and using contact tracing, testing and communications methods to curb transmission.
In the context of the pandemic, they also discussed that routine immunization programmes for children especially polio vaccination could not be ignored, as well as, the need for capacity enhancement of the National Institute of Health.
Meanwhile, the countrywide tally of Covid-19 patients stood at 15,501 with 5,827 cases in Punjab, 5,695 in Sindh, 2,313 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 974 in Balochistan, 330 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 297 in Islamabad and 65 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. —
15,501
Number of cases in Pakistan
3,425
Patients have so far recovered
343
Lives the virus has so far claimed