LAHORE: With as many as 2016 active cases of Covid-19 in the province, 130 fresh corona cases and two deaths have been reported in Punjab during the last 24 hours taking the provincial tally of corona patients to 101,301 and 2283 deaths so far.

After provincial ministers Hussain Jahania Gardezi and Mian Muhammad Aslam Iqbal, Senior Minister Aleem Khan has also tested positive for coronavirus. Aleem Khan has isolated himself soon after his medical report turned out to be positive. He is stated to be in stable condition. About 11672 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours taking the tally to 1419284 tests whereas, 97002 patients have been recovered out of 101301 corona patients.

The CM said that implementation on the preventive measures is the interest of the people. He said threat of spreading further coronavirus cannot be ignored through public gatherings. He said opposition parties are playing with the life of people only for their personal motive. He said that corona is a national issue but unfortunately opposition is trying to politicise it.

On the other hand, Minister for Law & Parliamentary Affairs Raja Basharat told media that the government has allowed the opposition to hold a rally in Gujranwala despite the increase in corona cases in the province. "We tried very hard to convince the opposition not to play with the lives of the people and reconsider the decision of the assembling realizing its national responsibilities, but they (opposition) persisted," he said.

Raja Basharat said that two of our ministers and two senior officers were affected by Corona the other day. If we wanted, we could have banned all kinds of gatherings under the Punjab Covid-19 Act, but we have to protect the lives of the people, not politics at the moment. So the opposition was asked to sign an agreement with the local administration pledging that all participants would be ensured to wear masks, use sanitizers and make social distancing.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020