PM touts ‘smart lockdowns’ as the way forward

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has advocated a “smart lockdown” as a possible solution to a protracted battle against the coronavirus pandemic as he called on the nation to act responsibly because no government can overcome the crisis alone.

“The government’s capacity to fight the virus is very limited,” Khan said during the Ehsaas Telethon on Thursday, jointly hosted by Geo and multiple other television channels and online platforms to raise funds to support people whose incomes have been affected by virus lockdowns.

“The places that will conquer the virus are those where people themselves take responsibility to fight it,” Khan added. “While going to the mosque, people must understand that it involves risk to your life and for others too,” he said, once again urging people to pray at home.

The Prime Minister was answering a question posed by a journalist about the ruling party’s measures to keep people at home during Ramadan.

Khan said complete lockdowns in India and other Asian countries wreaked havoc among the poor, and now countries like the United States are also thinking to impose “smart lockdowns” despite the deaths of over 40,000 Americans.

The Prime Minister has been consistently resisting imposing a strict nationwide lockdown, citing the devastating impact on the economy. He said the country would be heading towards smart lockdowns.

He said: “We can go and take control where there is an outbreak. This has begun in the West. I spoke to Trump last night. Even he is concerned with the economy collapsing, despite their resources. Everyone agrees it (lockdown) is unsustainable.”

He gave the example of Singapore, which instituted a complete lockdown only for the virus to resurge after the lockdowns were eased. “An indefinite lockdown is not the answer,” Khan told the journalists amid intermittent calls from donors.

Khan’s remarks come as the confirmed virus cases approached 11,000 in the country with 230 deaths at the time of this report.

The Prime Minister said the coronavirus was a challenge to test any nation’s capability to stand up to it and hoped that Pakistan would rise as a greater nation after sailing through the ordeal. He said the economic impact of the pandemic would increase in the future as the people would exhaust their savings and need support. “In such a scenario, the nation will have to face the situation collectively,” he added.

He also advised the people not to fall prey to any misconceptions or notions of “stronger immunity among the Pakistanis against the virus”, rather take all the precautions advised by the doctors. He said before launching the fund-raising, the government had completed its financial controls to ensure the donated money was spent transparently.

Hosted by Senator Faisal Javed, the transmission was participated by news anchors representing the partnering media groups including Geo News’ Hamid Mir, Kashif Abbasi (ARY News), Nadeem Malik (Samaa News), Kamran Shahid (Dunya News), Sami Ibrahim (Bol News), Shiffa Yousfzai (Hum News), Muniba Mazari (PTV News), Mansoor Khan (Express News) and Mohammad Malick (92 News).

Around Rs550 million were raised during the 3.5 hour transmission. Following the telethon, the total deposits in the PM Relief Fund for Covid-19 touched Rs2.76 billion as further donations continued to come in the advertised account number 4162786786 of National Bank of Pakistan’s Main Branch at II Chundrigar Road, Karachi.