Pakistan has brought back over 15,000 Pakistanis stranded worldwide following the coronavirus outbreak, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf said on Saturday.

Addressing a news conference here along with SAPM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza, he said, "Government is striving hard to bring back more nationals to Pakistan stranded in several countries."

Dr Yusuf said 100,000 more stranded Pakistani nationals had contacted the authorities and all of them would be brought back to Pakistan in a safe manner.

"We want all Pakistanis to return as soon as possible but in a safe manner. We cannot have them coming back and infecting their loved ones," he added.

Dr Yusuf appealed to all nationals coming from abroad to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the government.

"Some influential people are trying to escape testing after returning from abroad. The government is following the international procedure of testing everyone returning from abroad."

He said it had been decided to operate 30 flights in the next 10 days and the focus of those flights would be the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar as 90 percent of 1,000 stranded Pakistanis were in those Gulf countries.

Meanwhile, the SAPM National Health Services, Dr Zafar Mirza, advised the public to strictly follow all 13 SOPs to effectively fight against the disease.

Dr Mirza said that those SOPs had been prepared for all persons concerned keeping in view the prevailing disease situation, asking people to visit official website to read those SOPs.

He said there were 20-point SOPs regarding going to mosques during Ramazan.

Dr Mirza added that there were SOPs for coronavirus positive patients with regard to their quarantine and travelling.

He said the government had also issued the SOPs on burial of the deceased from coronavirus, adding there were SOPs on categorization of hospitals regarding coronavirus.

Dr Mirza said the government had issued SOPs on social distancing and for those eligible for corona testing.

He added there were SOPs on treatment and clinical management of corona patients.

Dr Mirza said the government had issues SOPs for use of personal protection equipment (PPE) kits by healthcare workers at federal and provincial levels.

He said initially those businesses were allowed where there was less chances of spread of the disease but with an obligation to follow the specified SOPs.