WHO 'praises' Pakistan's response against coronavirus

World Health Organisation chief Dr Tedros Adhanom has praised Pakistani government’s response against coronavirus and "recognised the positive trend of virus curtailment" in the country.

Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar said that Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke to the WHO DG today, where he urged the health body to formulate travel rules without any discrimination for all the countries in the light of the coronavirus pandemic

“PM asked WHO to develop travel guidelines to be adopted by all countries to ensure that low income countries are not discriminated against in global travel.”

An official statement said that the prime minister apprised the WHO DG of the measures undertaken by Pakistan to stem the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

In relation to the premier's concern regarding travel restrictions, the global health watchdog assured the country's top representative that it is creating standard operating procedures to remove travel restrictions in the future.

In the conversation, the two sides also discussed the contemporary situation due to the global pandemic.

The prime minister told the WHO top official that the country has amplified healthcare facilities in wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tedros also lauded the Pakistani government’s official response and measures to the disease that has infected millions across the globe.

Pakistan as of today recorded 233,500 cases of the coronavirus and 4,800 deaths.

'PM Imran's strategy succeeded'

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Saturday had credited Prime Minister Imran Khan's "smart lockdown" strategy for striking a balance between people's lives and starvation.

Faraz, while claiming that the strategy had "succeeded" against the virus, said: "The world also followed the smart lockdown strategy of PM Imran."

The minister was speaking at an event at Polyclinic Hospital to acknowledge the frontline role of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff in the fight against coronavirus in the last 100 days.

"The strategy of smart lockdown is succeeding in Pakistan and its results can be seen in Islamabad and other areas of the country," he said, adding: "In Islamabad, 771 cases of coronavirus were reported on June 1 and now the number of cases have dropped to 113 due to the smart lockdown strategy."

The information minister appreciated that people had adopted SOPs and helped in mitigating the disease.

“The efforts against coronavirus remain successful because of a balanced campaign. However, the danger of coronavirus still exists and it is our national obligation to follow the SOPs,” he added.