-Cabinet endorses easing lockdown decision as Corona cases spiral over 78,000
-PM chairs meeting without Air Conditioners and refreshments
By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired the Federal Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday which gave approval of export of locally manufactured personal protective equipment, including sanitizers and other things.
The meeting also decided that a committee comprising members from ministries of commerce, health, industrial production and science and technologies will be authorized to ban export of any particular item keeping in view domestic needs of the country.
The Federal Cabinet also emphasized on creating public awareness to strictly observe standard operating procedures issued by the government to prevent spread of Coronavirus.
It expressed satisfaction over increasing number of laboratories for Corona tests from two to two hundred. The cabinet was informed that testing capacity has been enhanced to 32,000 tests per day, which was just four hundred tests at the initial stage.
The meeting also expressed satisfaction over the working of Resource Management System for effective utilization of available resources and health facilities in the country.
The cabinet was informed on the latest situation of locust in the country and steps taken in this regard.
It appreciated the role of Pakistan Army National Disaster Management Authority, Chinese Government and other national and international organizations for the eradication of locust.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said that all available resources will be provided to curb locust and emphasized on finding some out of the box solution to this problem.
Federal cabinet session under Prime Minister Imran Khan’s chair focusing on economy, coronavirus and locust threat concluded in Islamabad on Tuesday, media reported. The session also zeroed in on the upcoming federal budget for the fiscal year 2021-2020.
The premier was briefed on the progress thus far made on the national plane crash tragedy occurring last month, he was also apprised of the process of DNA testing of the dead for identification and handing over to respective heirs. The federal cabinet has approved National Coordination Committee’s decision on coronavirus related lockdown in the country. Officials of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Ministry of Food and Security briefed the premier and the cabinet on the locust threat and the measures being adopted to tackle the menace.
The cabinet green lighted Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) request to erect an office in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The cabinet also approved utility store services across the country as essential. The cabinet also gave permission for deputing a chairman for the National Shipping Corporation along with the managing director for HPL and chief executive officer for Central Power Purchasing.
Pictures of former prime minister of Pakistan, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif that surfaced a few days back were also discussed during the session.
The cabinet said that Nawaz Sharif was living his best life in a foreign land after looting and plundering Pakistan, to this the prime minister said that such people have no shame.
The cabinet committee has urged the prime minister to order a forensic investigation of the wheat crisis akin to the sugar probe.
The five and a half hour long cabinet session was conducted without air conditioning or food, some participants of the meeting expressed their displeasure on the matter, sources claimed.
The countrywide tally of coronavirus cases has surged to 76,398 with 78 more Covid-19 related deaths reported over the previous 24 hours.
So far, 29,647 cases have been detected in Sindh, 27,850 in Punjab, 10,485 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 4,514 in Balochistan, 2,893 in Islamabad, 271 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 738 in Gilgit Baltistan, according to the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC).
With 78 more fatalities from the virus over the past 24 hours, the number of people who have succumbed to the disease in the country so far has jumped to 1,621. A total of 3,938 new cases were detected when 16,548 new tests were conducted over the previous 24 hours across the country.
The number of people defeating the deadly virus has reached 27,110.
1,439 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in Sindh over the past 24 hours, rising the tally of infections to 31,086 across the province. In a statement on the coronavirus situation, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said 1,439 new infections were detected when 5,454 tests were conducted. 23 more people died from the disease in the previous 24 hours, taking the number of fatalities to 526 in the province, he added.
He said 358 patients are in critical condition, of them 64 are on ventilators. 953 more people recuperated from the disease and discharged to their respective homes as the number of people defeating the deadly virus has surged to 15,538.
Murad Ali Shah said a total of 15,022 coronavirus positive patients are under treatment, of whom, 13,813are in home isolation, 111 at isolation centres and 1,098 at various hospitals.
Providing a district-wise breakdown of cases, he said Karachi recorded 1,035 out of the 1,439 new infections, adding district East saw 242 new cases, Malir 139, district South 167, district Central 166, Korangi 263, and West 58. He said Sukkur recorded 40 new cases, Khairpur 33, Ghotki 27, Hyderabad 47, Larkana 50, Shaheed Benazirabad 17, Badin 15, Sanghar 12, and Jamshoro 9. Sujawal and Shikarpur reported five cases each while Jacobabad and Dadu three cases each.
