ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed on Saturday said the present government had enhanced its capabilities in health sector in a short span of time.
Addressing a media briefing here, Murad Saeed said the government had adopted a comprehensive roadmap to handle the Covid-19 challenge, which was being appreciated at the world level.
The minister said despite economic constraint, the government gave a mammoth stimulus package of Rs1.2 trillion to provide cushion and support to every segment of the society affected by the contagion.
He appreciated the role of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), doctors and paramedics in dealing with the pandemic.
Murad Saeed said the PTI government was vigilant and taking all-out measures to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said Covid-19 was a pandemic, which had affected the whole world including developed countries, and "we are fighting with it with our limited resources".
The minister said the measures of government in containing the pandemic and providing relief to the virus-affected people have been appreciated by the world community.
Answering the PPP leadership's diatribe, he said after 18th amendment health was a provincial subject but still the federal government was trying best to facilitate provinces in dealing with the corona pandemic.
Murad Saeed said the PTI government made all decisions keeping in view the virus-affected people's miseries, and provided a support package for industrial sector and the people who had lost their jobs.
Murad Saeed said it was a matter of great satisfaction that the country had domestically started production of sanitizers and masks, and now we can export personal protective equipments (PPEs) including masks and sanitizers.
He regretted that the health sector was neglected in the past but the present government had now enhanced its capacity in a short span of time.
He said more than 20,000 doctors had been trained in a short period of time to deal with the pandemic effectively.
He said the country's testing capacity per day had gradually been enhanced to 30,000, which was 100 at initial stage.
The minister said strict actions were being taken for the implementation of SOPs to deal with the coronavirus and 1,311 markets had been sealed, so far which had violated the SOPs.
He said smart lockdown had been imposed at 845 points across the country.
Criticizing the PPP government's policies, he said people are dying with hunger due to lack of good governance in Sindh. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz urged political parties to act responsibly and avoid blame game to deal with the unprecedented challenge of coronavirus pandemic.
At another occasion, Shibli advised the opposition not to do politics on the Pakistan Steel Mills. He said government has taken the right step by announcing the golden handshake scheme for the PSM employees as the mills had become a white elephant for the national exchequer. The minister said previous governments were not serious in resolving the matter of Pakistan Steel Mills; otherwise, the issue would have been resolved during their respective governments.