Provincial Minister for Industries, Commerce, Cooperative Department and Anti-Corruption Jam Ikramullah Dharejo has said that it is a matter of concern that the number of local transmissions of people infected with the coronavirus is increasing alarmingly, and in the current situation the government cannot take the risk of opening hotels and restaurants.

He said this while participating in a video link meeting on the situation of the coronavirus under the National Command and Operations Centre, Islamabad. Federal Minister for Industries and Commerce Hamad Azhar presided over the meeting.

Jam Ikramullah Dharejo further said that shopping malls should be opened as per the SOPs. "We must be very careful to prevent the spread of the coronavirus," he said.

He added that in the current situation, hotels and restaurants could not be opened while the automobile industry could be opened under SOPs.

Jam Ikramullah Dharejo said that there was a need to provide employment opportunities while giving priority to human lives.

He said that there was a need to change the lifestyle due to the coronavirus. He said that the Sindh government was cooperating with the federal government for the betterment of the people at all levels.

"The coronavirus can only be defeated together," he said. The provincial minister said that the Sindh government had given permission to open and run certain industries under the SOPs, but if these SOPs were not complied with, strict action would be taken against the violators of the SOPs.

Jam Ikramullah Dharejo said that the business community should follow the SOPs themselves and get their staff and customers to follow the SOPs as well. Secretary of Industries and Commerce of Sindh, Abdul Nasim-ul-Ghani Sehto, also attended the meeting.