ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said a decision had been taken to reopen all sectors apart from those in the "negative list", and urged the people to show responsibility and follow the government-issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) "because the virus will spread and the death toll will rise".
The prime minister, after chairing a National Coordination Committee (NCC) meeting, while speaking to the nation, also stated the government has decided to bring back stranded Pakistanis from abroad.
He said that Asad Umar, Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms, would share the list of the sectors to be reopened later.
The prime minister said he wanted that tourism should be reopened and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan would together decide about it.
"I would hold a meeting with the doctors' association because doctors are fighting on the frontline against the virus," he said.
The prime minister stated that the NCC meeting attended by provincial chief ministers and chief secretaries, the AJK prime minister as well as others held an in-depth discussion in the light of a briefing by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on the latest Covid-19 situation in the country and implementation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
The premier said he was against the lockdown, saying that if it were up to him, he never would have imposed a lockdown, adding that the way lockdown was imposed it caused "massive" suffering for the poor.
"If it were up to me, I would not have stopped the business and construction activities," he added.
He further stated that because of lockdown's impact on the economy exports have declined and revenue collection has reduced by 25 percent.
He said this kind of lockdown has taken place because there was pressure on the provinces, and they were increasingly empowered under the 18th Constitutional Amendment to take decisions.
The prime minister said on the one hand there were rich people who wanted lockdown, while on the other hand there were poor and daily wagers thinking otherwise, and doctors were saying something else.
He said that all the countries have reached the conclusion that they have to live with the virus as long as vaccine is not made. He added: "people have to show responsibility because they have to live with it as long as vaccine is not made because they have to live with the virus at least this year".
He also referred to other countries and stated that the US had been against the lockdown because of its adverse consequences on the economy and rich countries have eventually decided to ease the lockdown.
He cited the example of India as a country that imposed a strict lockdown which caused immense hardships for the migrant workers in particular and failed to arrest the spread of the deadly virus.
The prime minister said even after the first NCC meeting when there were 25 cases in the country, he was clear in his mind that as to what route Pakistan should take.
He said that Pakistan's situation is different from Europe's because in Pakistan around 25 percent people are living below the poverty line, and over 25 million people are daily wagers, and if their families are accounted for the number of poor people would be around over 120 million.
The purpose of lockdown was to stop the spread of the virus, while on the other hand the government's consideration was also the impact it would have on the poor.
A programme would be launched soon to make available information to the public with regards to availability of ventilators.
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