I Was never in favor of strict lockdowns, says PM Khan

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said he was never in favor of strict lockdowns as he blamed them for spreading fear and panic among the masses. 

“I would have not allowed a lockdown. Panic was created that the virus will spread the way it had in Europe and Wuhan. Our circumstances are different, but a strict lockdown was imposed regardless,” the premier said. 

He remarked that had the provinces consulted him before imposing a strict lockdown, the situation would have been completely different and there would have been no lockdowns in the country.

He claimed that the situation in Pakistan was much better than India and the US because the government timely launched the Ehsaas cash distribution programme to help the needy families. 

The government’s Ehsaas programme has so far distributed Rs12,000 to more than 12 million families across the country. 

The number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in the country has reached 185,034 with 3,695 deaths and 73,471 successful recoveries. Sindh and Punjab lead the tally with 71,092 and 68,303 infections reported respectively. 

Commenting on the future strategy for containing the pandemic, he said the month of July will be challenging as the government plans to impose smart lockdowns. The people will have to follow strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) to save the most vulnerable sections of the society. 

He said those who are already suffering from diseases like diabetes or blood pressure are most vulnerable to the Covid-19. 

PM Imran Khan made these statements while attending the launch of three initiatives to support welfare organisations in alleviating poverty and helping the livelihoods affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. 

He launched two applications: Ehsaas Langar, Panahgaah in addition to the Prime Minister’s Covid-19 Pandemic Relief Fund-2020 Web-Portal. 

The applications will help the government ensure equitable distribution of charities to the needy families, whereas the portal will raise funds for these charities through donations. 

Flanked by top leadership of the major private sector companies including Pepsi Co’s Furqan Ahmed Syed and Lucky Cement’s Muhammad Ali Tabba, he said the private sector donors can now efficiently transfer the funds to the government by using these applications.