The National Assembly session ended on Friday without developing any consensus to deal with Covid-19 pandemic as both opposition and the government kept blaming each other for the failure to stem the epidemic throughout the three-day-long debate.
The session was specially convened on the insistence of opposition parties particularly the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), aimed at chalking out a joint strategy to deal with the deadly virus but it ended inconclusive.
Taking part in the debate before Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Suri prorogued the session, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar warned that the number of Covid-19 positive cases in the country would continue to rise.
He assured the nation that data and modeling have not shown any evidence that the disease would spread so rapidly that the health system will collapse, adding if a lockdown could have ended the virus, it would have been proven by at least one country.
He pointed out that in countries, who imposed strict lockdowns to curb the spread, the disease reemerged after restrictions were eased, adding the disease will only end once a vaccine is developed.
Speaking about government's tracing, testing and quarantine strategy, he told that the government had identified more than 500 areas in the country as virus hotspots and action had been taken to put them under quarantine.
He said the country's testing capacity had increased over the past months and in the last 24 hours, more than 13,000 tests had been conducted.
Initially, only two labs in the country could conduct tests but now, there were 70 testing labs.
"The NDMA [National Disaster Management Authority] has made arrangements to procure 1,000 ventilators. We've also started two training programmes for healthcare professionals - one on the proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), so that they are well-protected, and another one on intensive care unit (ICU) equipment," he said.
Earlier, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal came down hard on the government for not putting forward a copy of policy to deal with coronavirus.
He pointed out that none of the government ministers were present in the parliament to attend the debate on the ongoing health crisis.
"One thing is apparent, this prime minister is sitting on a mountain of ego. He is inexperienced, which is not a bad thing; inexperienced people learn but incapable people don't," Iqbal declared.
While criticising the government's decision to ease the lockdown, he said the countries that "shut their eyes like a pigeon" are today losing lives "like autumn leaves".
"We are the only country in the world that has eased its lockdown when the disease is spreading rapidly and allowed people to congregate in public," he claimed.
Iqbal also bashed the government for "borrowing people from other agencies" instead of putting government officials to work.
He claimed that by engaging officials of the security forces, the government was "defaming the institution."
PPP MNA Shazia Marri dispelled 'myths' being spread about the Covid-19, saying that the false claims about the disease would lead people to take it lightly.
She criticised the government for sending "mixed messages" about Covid-19.
She urged the government to build a clear narrative so that people would take the virus seriously.
"The virus is spreading; this is the time to unite. We need to clear our narrative. We need to clear that this is not a normal fever," she said. She also called on the government to increase health capacity and to work with the provincial governments to ensure that every frontline worker has PPE.
Shazia recommended that the Centre devise "one national, cohesive, unified policy" on the coronavirus. Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said the government was planning to bring 7,000 stranded Pakistanis back home before Eidul Fitr.
Responding to various questions posed by the lawmakers during a special session of parliament convened to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic, he said thousands of stranded Pakistanis, including students, workers, members of the tablighi jamaat and pilgrims; had already been repatriated from across the globe.
He said Pakistani prisoners from Oman and the United Arab Emirates had been brought back for free, adding that thus far the Aviation Division had operated 181 inbound flights and repatriated 25,000 passengers to 27 countries.
He said around 250 students stranded in Wuhan would be repatriated through a special flight on Monday (May 18).
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MNA Amir Dogar, meanwhile, urged the government to announce relief measures for the agricultural sector, saying seeds and fertilizers should be made available on subsidized rates.
Giving priority to agriculture was vital to uplifting the country's economy, he added.
Dogar also suggested that the healthcare workers and staff of district administrations who were dealing with the coronavirus pandemic on the front-line should be awarded civil awards.
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