Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf has said that while the govt is following international procedure of testing everyone returning from abroad, there are some influential people who are trying to escape this system.

Addressing a press conference, Yousuf laid down the procedure being followed by the government.

"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, which is why we cannot give any exemption from testing to anyone," Yousuf said.

"People that return are tested after 48 hours of their arrival, getting the results takes a further day or day and a half, after which it is determined if they should go home and stay in self-isolation or be kept in quarantine.

"Sometimes it happens that one person tests negative while everyone else on the flight around them tests positive, in that case their province decides what to do.

"The reason that the repatriation process is slow is because we are following the procedure to quarantine these people. Our quarantine facilities can take from 7,500 to 8,000 people at a time."

"Another reason is that a lot of airports and flights are not functioning so we have to take permission for every flight and we can only operate some flights."