Pakistan’s Cabinet on Tuesday decided to discuss the ways to ease nationwide lockdown with chief ministers of all the provinces on Wednesday, even as the death toll from coronavirus rose to 514.
Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired the Cabinet meeting which was briefed by Planning Minister Asad Umar about the status of ongoing lockdown which will end on May 9 unless extended.
Information Minister Shibli Faraz told the media that the Cabinet decided to discuss lockdown and other coronavirus related issues in the meeting of the National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Khan will chair the meeting which would be attended by the chief ministers of all four province.
“They will sit down and build consensus for a unified policy regarding easing the lockdown. By this time tomorrow, whatever their recommendations are, will be with us, he said.
On Monday, Khan said that the government had decided to gradually ease the lockdown in the coming days, keeping in view the ground realities, especially the economic situation of the country amid the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the officials, the number of confirmed cases crossed 22,000 as new cases were being regularly added.
They said the number of deaths jumped to 514. Punjab reported 8,133 case, Sindh 8,189, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 3,499 Balochistan 1,321, Islamabad 464, Gilgit-Baltistan 372 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 71 cases. Another 5,801 patients recovered so far.
So far 222,404 tests were conducted, including 9,857 in the last 24 hours.
Khan further said that the government was trying its best to provide all possible relief to the people in view of the coronavirus situation, adding that despite the difficult circumstances, the government announced an economic package of 1.25 trillion PKR, The Express Tribune reported.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told the media that the session will be held on alternate days by having a break of one day after each sitting and social distancing will also be followed.
Also, the Cabinet in its meeting decided to allow the export of sanitisers to other countries. “The government is trying to export all possible products to push our foreign exchange and exports, Faraz said.
Last week, Imran Khan government has extended the countrywide lockdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic for 15 more days until May 9 amid doctors warnings against easing restrictions.
Earlier, the government approved a Rs 700 crore special relief package for labourers to help them face the economic fallout of the lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, the global tally of coronavirus infections currently stands at 3,727,993, and 258,354 people have succumbed to the infection so far