Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza on Monday said the government will assign "specific" roles to doctors who had volunteered to be part of Prime Minister's Corona Relief Tiger Force , adding that their expertise can be utilised in ensuring implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) among other things.

Speaking alongside Prime Minister Imran Khan during prime minister's address to the volunteer force, Mirza revealed that around 17,000 medical professionals, including 1,800 doctors, had volunteered for the Corona Relief Tiger Force.

"We sent these medical professionals a special questionnaire and on the basis of their answers and our own thinking, the government will seek their help in effective implementation of SOPs and social distancing measures and specialised monitoring of quarantine and isolation centres," Mirza said.

Mirza also said a majority of the 1,800 doctors will work for the government's digital telehealth initiative so that they can give advice to patients over the phone.

"No one really knows how long this disease will last. Therefore, everyone needs to play their role," Mirza said, as he reminded the nation of the importance of precautionary measures.

PM outlines basic responsibilities of force

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan outlined the basic responsibilities of the Corona Relief Tiger Force, saying that the force ought to strike a balance between saving people from the virus and saving them from hunger and unemployment.

"This tiger force, meaning this volunteer force, was formed to meet the challenges presented by this lethal pandemic. The entire world is being forced to take steps that haven't been taken in the past 100 years," Khan said.

The prime minister said volunteers will have to help register all those who had lost their jobs due to the lockdown.

"Not everyone can register themselves online so that is where the force will come in handy," he explained.

He added that the volunteers will also monitor distribution centres of the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme and give feedback to the government.

Prime Minister Imran also asked the volunteers to monitor hoarding practices in their designated areas, instructing them to report hoarders to authorities.

"If you see hoarding anywhere, don't take action yourself but tell the respective district administration authorities. They will take strict action as per law," he said.

Prime Minister Imran also said that the lockdown in the country had to be lifted slowly but safely to mitigate the economic fallout from the virus outbreak in Pakistan.

"We need to lift the lockdown so that people can get jobs. But we have to be careful because all of our efforts will go in vain if people don't take precautionary measures," he concluded.