Coronavirus tally reaches 12: AJK premier for stringent lockdown measures

With a dozen coronavirus cases reported in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Prime Minister AJK Raja Farooq Haider has directed the authorities to tighten lockdown measures as part of preventive arrangements against the deadly pandemic.
"Lockdown and other strict measures are for the safety of the lives of people. Public as well as concerned authorities must ensure 100 percent implementation on government directives," an official statement issued here on Saturday quoted the PM AJK as having said.
Haider said his government was taking "every possible step to protect the lives of the people", and urged the public to strictly follow the precautionary and preventive measures, the statement said.
He appealed to the people to cooperate with the government in implementing its decisions regarding the prevention of the virus.
"Together, the government and public would fight the war against the coronavirus effectively," he said.
"The government fully understands the hardships and challenges to the poor and downtrodden segments of the society, and assured that all out cooperation would be extended to the labourers and daily wagers in this regard," the PM AJK promised.
According to the statement, Haider urged public and the civic bodies to maintain cleanliness in their respective areas, stay indoors and observe social distancing.
The number of the COVID-19 cases in the AJK had reached 12 till the filing of this report on Saturday evening.
As many as 193 cases have so far been reported from Gilgit-Baltistan.
In Pakistan, the coronavirus cases tally surpassed 2,714 Saturday evening.
The coronavirus death toll in Pakistan had reached 40, and the number of persons recovered from the pandemic stand at 130.
Of the reported COVID-19 cases in Pakistan, 1,087 are from Punjab, 830 from Sindh, 343 from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 175 from Balochistan, and 75 from Islamabad.
The first coronavirus case was reported in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019.
On March 11, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared coronavirus a pandemic.
Over 190 countries of the world have been affected by this deadly virus.
According to reports, by Saturday evening more than 1.1 million people have been infected worldwide by coronavirus with 59,000 dead, and over 226,000 recovered.
The virus originated from China but, lately, the focus of this virus' devastating impact shifted from China to Europe, and the WHO named Europe as the new epicentre of the coronavirus.
Presently, the coronavirus has unleashed devastation in the United States with around 278,000 coronavirus cases, and over 7,406 deaths recorded in the country so far.