There can be complete lockdown in Pakistan as the deadly coronavirus disease Covid-19 is rapidly spreading across the country, media reports have said.
There are 730 positive cases of Sars-CoV-2 virus now in the country, the maximum (396) being in the southern province of Sindh. The Punjab province has 137 cases of Covid-19, Balochistan 103, Gilgit-Baltistan 56 and Khyber Pakhtukhwa 10.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah urged people in Karachi on Saturday to self-isolate voluntarily for three days. The province has been under partial lockdown.
The Pakistan government had recently said that number of Covid-19 positive cases can see a spurt as more than 5,000 pilgrims who recently returned from Iran have spread all over the country.
These pilgrims were held at Pakistan’s Taftan border crossing (in Balochistan) with Iran, one of the countries worst affected worldwide by the virus, but due to negligence of officials in enforcing quarantine, the number of cases spiked.
As a result of the rapid increase, the government on Saturday suspended all international flight operations for two weeks. The ban will remain in effect till April 4, according to an official statement.
“From 8 pm tonight, all incoming international flights are being suspended for two weeks,” said a government statement. National carrier PIA, however, will be allowed to bring back its planes. Cargo flights will also be allowed.
Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad ordered reduction in number of trains running in the country from March 25. “We have decided to suspend 34 trains out of total 142 running in the country while another eight trains will be suspended from April 1,” he said.
Overall, 1.4 million people have been screened so far at entry points since the start of the outbreak, media reports said.
The reports further said that Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi asked his German counterpart Heiko Maas for relief in the form of repayment of loans so that the country can focus on dealing with the Covid-19 outbreak.
He told his German counterpart on phone that united efforts were needed for dealing with the pandemic that has emerged as a major challenge for the entire world, said media reports.