Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr. Zafar Mirza has said that the suggestion of two-week off and two-week on lockdown is not under consideration.

The State Health Minister said in his statement that it is not compulsory to follow the recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the special agency focuses on the pandemic only.

“People thought that coronavirus ended with Ramadan but the government cannot overcome the epidemic until public changes its behavior.”

“Those sectors which are shut will continue to remain so. The government takes those decisions which are beneficial for people. We have to live with coronavirus.”

“A well-thought-out strategy was adopted by the government. COVID-19 cases will further increase in the upcoming days and lockdown might be implemented if the situation worsens. Beds will be distributed to provinces according to their need.”

It is pertinent here to mention that the WHO wrote a letter to the Punjab government and recommended that for any government that wants to start lifting restrictions, the following six conditions must be met:

1) Disease transmission is under control
2) Health system can “detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact”
3) Hot spot risks are minimized in vulnerable places, such as nursing homes
4) Schools, workplaces and other essential places have established preventive measures
5) The risk of importing new cases “can be managed”

The WHO said Pakistan does not meet any of the aforementioned conditions and recommended it to follow two weeks off and two weeks on strategy against coronavirus.