PIA’S 17 special flights to bring back 2,000 overseas Pakistanis
All passengers will be sent to quarantine centres and tested for COVID-19. Those tested negative will be sent home through special arrangement of transport, says minister
The existing countrywide lockdown placed last month to slow the spread of coronavirus will remain enforced for two more weeks till April 14.
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will operate 17 special flights between April 4 and 11 to bring back around 2,000 overseas Pakistanis from different countries.
Both decisions were taken at a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC), which was also attended by Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa. It was decided that the daily meetings of the NCC would also be attended by the chief secretaries of all provinces through video links.
It was also decided that goods transport movement would be restored to ensure adequate supply of essential food items amid lockdown. Besides, Prime Minister Imran Khan directed the relevant authorities to resume construction activities while keeping a balance between lockdown requirements and economic activities so that people in limited areas could work.
Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar told reporters that the participants were of the opinion that it was necessary to ensure availability of medicines, edible items, medical services and energy. “People will continue to cooperate with the government as long as they get basic necessities of life.”
He said data showed that some of the measures the government had taken worked. “Our R-naught value, which indicates how many people one contagious person will infect on average, is on the decline. This means that some of the steps we have taken to curb the spread of COVID-19 are working,” he added.
He said it was collectively decided at the NCC meeting to extend restrictions for two more weeks after which the situation would be reviewed, while no province would further intensify the restrictions during this period.
“Considering the problems of overseas Pakistanis it has been decided that the first flight would land at Islamabad International Airport on April 4. All passengers will be sent in quarantine and tested for COVID-19. Those tested negative will be sent home through special arrangement of transport. Moreover, those Pakistanis will have to stay in selfisolation and there will be a track and trace system in place for them. On April 5, the situation will be reviewed and then other flights will be allowed to land in Pakistan,” he said.
In the second phase, Umar said, Jinnah International Airport, Karachi would also be opened for international flights. However, domestic flight operations would remain suspended, he added.
Ten days after medical crews wearing white protective suits backed by squads of the army, paramilitary Rangers and the police rolled into the Islamabad area and sealed it due to spread of COVID-19, the Rimsha Colony locality in Sector H-9 has been unsealed. The remaining two localities of the federal capital which have been sealed, Bhara Kahu and Shehzad Town, are awaiting clearance from the health authorities to be de-sealed.
A notification in this regard was issued by the Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICTA) Deputy Commissioner (DC) Hamza Shafqaat.
It read that the district health officer had declared the area as clear of the novel coronavirus infection.
Rimsha Colony, a slum, had been sealed after a COVID-19 positive patient emerged there. The district administration, with support from law enforcing agencies (LEAS), placed pickets on all the entry and exit points to the area. They screened all residents of the locality while washing the streets with chlorinated water and disinfecting them.
With no suspected COVID-19 case being reported from the area in the past 10 days, the restrictions imposed on the area were lifted. Following the notification, police and other security personnel deployed at the entry points of the area withdrew. Shehzad town and Bara Kahu remain under strict lockdown.
Meanwhile, to make a visit to the main vegetable and fruit market of the city safe, the first sanitising walk-through gate of the federal capital has been installed at the vegetable market.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Capital Development Authority (CDA) Affairs Ali Nawaz Awan, inaugurated the gate and said that they intended to install 20 such gates at multiple locations across the city, including at the entrance to mosques and other public places. Each gate, he said, costs Rs200,000.