Pakistan on Friday decided to shut its western borders with Iran and Afghanistan for two weeks, limit international operations only to three major airports, shut educational institutes for three weeks and ban public gatherings.
These decisions were taken in the National Security Council (NSC) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, and attended by military leadership, all provincial chief ministers and relevant authorities.
The NSC's decisions were announced at a joint news conference by Prime Minister's Special Assistant on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza, Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Firdaus Ashiq Awan, and Special Assistant on National Security Division Dr Moeed Yusuf.
Dr Zafar Mirza said that a high-level National Coordination Committee in his convenership with all chief ministers, relevant ministers, the surgeon general of Pakistan army, representatives of DG ISI, DG ISPR, DG Military Operations, chairman National Disaster Management (NDMA), has been constituted on the measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in country, which would hold for its first meeting on Saturday (today).
Sharing other major decisions of the NSC with the media, Dr Mirza said that Pakistan's borders with Iran and Afghanistan were immediately being closed for two weeks for all kind of movement and transit trade, and the situation would be reviewed accordingly.
He said the decision would apply to all the major and small entry points including Torkham, Chaman [Afghanistan] and Taftan with Iran, while screening system was also being enhanced so that no infected cases could cross into Pakistan. About the pilgrims currently in Iran, he said that there were 6,000 pilgrims in Iran and the government had made a decision that all the pilgrims entering Pakistan would be quarantined for 14 days.
He said that the first batch of the quarantined pilgrims had started their journey towards their homes in special buses, adding that it would be up to the concerned provinces whether they would also quarantine them, when they enter into the concerned provinces. He said that the federal government would extend it support and facilities for screening and testing those pilgrims entering the concerned provinces.
About the airports, he said that a decision had been taken that only three airports - Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore - would be allowed for international operations and the remaining for domestic operations with a view to ensuring limited entry points and best available screening arrangements.
He said that the decision about the international operation would be reviewed on an appropriate time according to the situation. He said the NSC also decided to impose a complete ban on major public gatherings of all kinds, adding that the remaining matches of Pakistan Super League (PSL) would be held in empty stadiums, while all wedding halls and cinema halls would remain shut.
All these including holding of conferences will be banned for two weeks and further decisions will be taken according to the situation, he added. About religious gatherings, he said that the NSC had tasked Minister for Religious Affairs and chairman Council of Islamic Ideology to submit their recommendations to the committee.
He said that all the educational institutes in the country including all schools and universities, public and private, vocational institutes and madaris would be closed immediately for three weeks, adding that the committee would review the situation and make further decisions accordingly.
Dr Mirza further said that the federal government would approach chief justice of the Supreme Court with a request to adjourn the hearings on civil cases for three weeks and a similar request would also be made to the chief justices of the high courts at provincial levels.
However, in criminal cases, he said the judicial magistrates would visit the concerned jails and make their decisions in the jails instead of bringing the accused to the courts.
He also urged the provinces and other segments of society not to politicize the measures being undertaken to prevent the outbreak of the coronavirus, adding that there is a need for national unity at this testing time. About the number of confirmed cases, he said that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has reached 28 with seven new cases who were tested positive at Taftan border.
He said the government had so far conducted screening of 0.9 million people against the virus. He further said that the Ministry of National Food Security has been asked to prepare a strategy to deal with any possible food shortage due to the evolving situation.
Responding to a question about allegations of his involvement in smuggling of 20 million surgical masks to China, Dr Mirza said he was sending a legal notice to those who had levelled such allegations. Dr Moeed Yusuf clarified that there had been no imposition of national emergency, adding that the prime minister had directed not to create any panic.
Earlier, talking to a private media channel about the decisions taken by the NSC, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said that the 23rd March Pakistan Day parade had also been cancelled as part of preventive measures. A notification issued by Federal Directorate of Education stated that all educational institutes were being closed with immediate effect and until April 05, 2020 as decided by the federal government.
However, in line with the spring vacation's schedule already issued, the educational institutes working under the ambit of the Federal Directorate of Education, Islamabad will remain closed until April 10, 2020, and shall re-open on April 13, 2020.
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