Govt may reimpose lockdown after Eid if SOP violations continue: Mirza
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Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said on Monday that Pakistan's coronavirus cases and deaths were on the rise and urged citizens to follow government mandated standard operating procedures (SOPs) against the virus, warning that "strict lockdowns" could be reimposed across the country if the trajectory continued.
Lamenting that the government's instructions and SOPs to control the spread of the virus were not being followed, the prime minister's aide said:
"As we promised when we eased the lockdown, if this trend continues we may reimpose strict lockdowns after Eid."
Noting that there was this perception amongst people that the virus outbreak in the country had ended, Mirza reminded everyone that deaths and cases were rising continuously.
"Unfortunately, there is now this thinking among us that this disease [Covid-19] was only here till Eid and that somehow it'll disappear after Eid. This is a huge misunderstanding.
"I want to warn Pakistanis that if you don't take precautionary measures, this crisis could turn into a huge tragedy.
"I urge the nation to act with extreme responsibility to curb the spread of the virus. The cases are rising very fast and we need to be careful, more than ever."
Enumerating coronavirus statistics from around the world, the prime minister's aide stated that Covid-19 has now infected more than 5.5 million people globally and killed nearly 350,000.
"But the characteristic of this disease is that a huge majority of the patients recover from it — therefore the good news is that millions have also recovered and are now healthy," he said.
He clarified that most of the active cases in the country were mild and those patients were quarantining at home. He requested them to stay at home and recuperate until they are tested negative.
"Unfortunately, there are 112 patients intubated in Pakistan right now. These patients are critically ill and are fighting for their lives at this very moment." Mirza said, as he warned that the number of critically ill patients in the country was also rising fast.
He said the spread of the virus could only be halted by staying at home as much as possible, practicing social distancing, wearing masks and taking precautionary measures while going out.
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Comments (107) Closed
May 25, 2020 05:46pm
Saying a guy who himself is not wearing mask on tv!
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May 25, 2020 05:47pm
Please disseminate this to the prime minister as well who still thinks that this is a mere cough. .
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May 25, 2020 05:50pm
These doom predictors all over world were proved wrong. Statistically same as a bad flu. But you have destroyed whole economies. And they continue to scare people to feel importance.
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May 25, 2020 06:00pm
Dr Zafar Mirza is right listen to him please.
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May 25, 2020 06:00pm
Unfortunately government failed to implement the SOPs and now trying to shift the responsibility to general public. There was no law enforcing agencies or admit istratuon to ensure "smart lockdown"
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May 25, 2020 06:01pm
Tell the mullahs
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May 25, 2020 06:04pm
What else did the government expect when they were lifting the restrictions that were barely being followed?
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May 25, 2020 06:04pm
Sir please don't spread pannic. Whole world knows immune of Pakistanis are good and coronavirus cant debt it. Past two months people were roaming freely and not much cases with respect to population.
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May 25, 2020 06:07pm
@Hanni_Layyah IK never said its a mere cough. Stop spreading baseless propaganda. He is leading a delicate balance and has 80% approval of Pakistanis on this issue.
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May 25, 2020 06:07pm
Sensible thinking and advice
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May 25, 2020 06:10pm
Inform this to PM rather than public who takes this diseases so lightly that he refused to suppost the lockdown
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May 25, 2020 06:16pm
Don't you think it is bit too late for you to be issuing such a statement? Why didn't you
listen and adopted the logical policy of lockdown of the Sindh Government?
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May 25, 2020 06:17pm
I thought Pakistan was way better than any nation in south asia in containment of virsu. Ok, that was another lie
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May 25, 2020 06:19pm
Why did he met Bill Gates this year alone? What did they discuss. Why are NGO’s paying families of deceased money to declare them corona? Does corona actually kills?
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May 25, 2020 06:21pm
A fake pandemic where corina is less harmful than flu. No one dies of flu in Pakistan, only in EU and US
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May 25, 2020 06:21pm
Impose lockdown in critical areas. It will be enough.
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May 25, 2020 06:25pm
Worst period is on the way.....just hold your breath....very poor handling of the situation...
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May 25, 2020 06:25pm
@Hani_Layyah,
Don't spread such Disinformation!
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May 25, 2020 06:27pm
@Hani_Layyah,
Is it necessary to score politically in every think?
PM is doing his best for this nation. No looter and plunderer is to be allowed to steal fund money anymore.
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May 25, 2020 06:30pm
Voluntarily social distancing is not possible in Pakistan and only recourse is complete lockdown.Please understand this and implement.
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May 25, 2020 06:32pm
It was a bad decision to open up the country without a plan. We knew about the disaster that is coming now. There will be thousands of deaths that will lead to a chaos. The next step is not only the chaos but public disobedience and that I am really worried about. Coronovirus bad planning will make this government to pack.up. We need a fresh leadership in this country. The older ones have no clue of the modern time and requirements.
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May 25, 2020 06:38pm
there is no point in a strict lock down now...when we the doctors were begging you to impose it, our pm ignored us. now I am afraid its too late, all we can do is sit back and enjoy the ride
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May 25, 2020 06:47pm
Whose responsibility is to check & impose SOPs? How can government wash hands from its primary responsibility of saving lives and start blaming its own people who are uneducated, ignorant and lack discipline.
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May 25, 2020 06:47pm
Pak need to increase test numbers. With only 10-12K tests daily, we are going nowhere. Either we stop testing or do atleast 40K tests daily. Pak daily infection is staying at around 1700-2500 because tests are staying at same rate(10-15K) since last few days. Still, number of positive cases is more than 10% of total tests done which is scary.
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May 25, 2020 06:47pm
The way it has been handled is perplexing.
Only if the government had taken it seriously in February and had imposed a complete lockdown for 14-18 days, most of the country would have been cleared by now.
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May 25, 2020 07:00pm
Plz impose lockdown asap..n make ppl to follow it, becox no one is ready to ACT RESPONSIBLY.
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May 25, 2020 07:09pm
The infection rate is coming down along with death toll low in Pakistan as compared to India & the world.
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May 25, 2020 07:10pm
@Hani_Layyah, when did he??? He advocated smart lockdown because of poverty
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May 25, 2020 07:11pm
If it reimposes lockdown, the death toll will come down?
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May 25, 2020 07:14pm
Lockdown easing under pressure from clerics was a very bad idea just when it was getting under control . Hope common man does not end up suffering.
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May 25, 2020 07:44pm
Did they really think any SOPs would fly with Pakistanis? Really? A nation that doesn't follow age old traffic laws that are second nature around the world, will follow newly written SOPs? Bravo!
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May 25, 2020 07:50pm
Also U turn on lock down. Bunch of incompetent ministers n advisers. All the health experts warned govt against easing the lock down. Incompetency at its peak.
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May 25, 2020 08:00pm
Govt open opened lockdown just a week before Eid not the public. They should have imposed strict curfew as soon as virus hit....
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May 25, 2020 08:01pm
Please make up your mind!
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May 25, 2020 08:08pm
Not much benifit of govt imposed lockdown once community spreading of virus has already happened, henceforth only voluntary social distancing will help.
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May 25, 2020 08:15pm
According to a report from stanford university their is no benefit of lockdown. It will only increase poverty and more will die of hunger as the ratio of death from this virus is very low!
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May 25, 2020 08:28pm
Reimpose but let ppl aware of guidelines.
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May 25, 2020 08:30pm
It is already proved that SOPs have been grossly violated and in result, the graphs of infections, deaths and new areas of virus concentrations are showing fast aggravating trends. This calls for immediate remedial actions before it becomes out of hand situation.
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May 25, 2020 08:42pm
If lock down is imposed what will happens to dehadidar [ daily wage workers] and poor ?
Why now you are afraid of CORONA now ?
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May 25, 2020 08:45pm
Too late! Damage has already been done. Just wait for the results to unfold in next 2 weeks. I hope and pray that I am proven wrong, but our people have done every possible thing to turn this into a major disaster.
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May 25, 2020 08:48pm
The horses are long gone out of the stables. But sure close the empty stables now.
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May 25, 2020 08:49pm
just try, it will be like screaming underwater.
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May 25, 2020 08:49pm
Too litle too late.
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May 25, 2020 09:15pm
@Hani_Layyah, pmln and PPP will keep singing whatever he does. If lockdown remains then your party will say he did in human thing and killed poors... read stats.
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May 25, 2020 09:15pm
Please do. This is a silent massacre.
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May 25, 2020 09:40pm
Many of us feel invulnerable. Covid-19 can only happen to the other people.
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May 25, 2020 09:48pm
The only way to be safe from the virus is, to lock it out and stay safe in your house. Lock-down is the only remedy as at present.
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May 25, 2020 09:52pm
The health care system is on the verge of collapse.
People have not shown any discipline in the past few weeks. The hospitals are getting crowded with COVID patients . The numbers and deaths do not represent the actual figure due to undertesting and underreporting.
The lives of millions of people have been jeopardized because of the lack of firm stance of the government.
I pray that these fears of mine are proved wrong.
Act responsibly for your safety please.
Yours sincerely,
A doctor fighting at the frontline.
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May 25, 2020 10:05pm
Now statistically, lockdown will not be any beneficial. The community infection has reached the critical mass. Now it is upto the people the manage.
When Sindh was asking for total lockdown, had it been implemented, we would have been now opening up whole economy safely. But lost the time in silly political bickering.
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May 25, 2020 10:07pm
We are not nation but of people will understand the gravity of this virus and die
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May 25, 2020 10:19pm
Governments don’t warn, they set guidelines, they set a plan, if either doesn’t work, which it hasn’t, the government needs to simply pull all the guidelines and impose the lockdown. This government is sacrificing people’s lives for the economy.
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May 25, 2020 10:22pm
It too late for the lockdown again. Numbers are showing the truth.
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May 25, 2020 10:39pm
Where are the face masks to be exported this time? They could be imported again from the same source if needed (or unneeded but budgeted for) at whatever price the buyers have to agree to accept, depending upon the situation at that moment.
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May 25, 2020 10:46pm
Please have some mercy on the poor sir.
Are you prepared for a mental meltdown of a society by making people suffer for food?
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May 25, 2020 11:01pm
Inept government. Why make the lockdown easy. Damage is done. Now stick with the herd immunity. Frankly you have no idea what you are doing
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May 25, 2020 11:57pm
When the law of the land does not function or has been in effective for years how can you talk about SOPs?
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May 26, 2020 12:14am
It is too late now and lockdown will now not serve the purpose. The dent has been done and I suspect a huge surge of infection after EID holidays.
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May 26, 2020 12:33am
You could not impose Lock Down successfully so what makes you think you could Reimpose Lock Down.
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May 26, 2020 12:33am
Dear Brothers,
Lockdown is not at all effective to stop spreading of virus. Pakistan & Bangladesh has lowest cases compared to India which imposed since last 2 months., but cases are increasing. Herd Immunity should be tried to fight the virus. Social distancing, lockdown, masks etc., will NOT stop. Only thing is "Herd Immunity" or Vaccine/medicine will stop virus.
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May 26, 2020 12:38am
@Yasir, less people will die, yes.
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May 26, 2020 01:07am
Does he have any power to implement the lockdown . Even if does , can he enforce it .
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May 26, 2020 01:53am
PM and minister have no idea of the situation. They are promoting tiger force to control PPP instead of covid-19.
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May 26, 2020 02:34am
PM IK has the arithmetics right. The country's population is 220 Million. Even if 10% people die because of Covid-19, the nation will still have a workforce of 200 Million, which is sufficient to run the country.
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May 26, 2020 02:41am
Lock down on U Turns......please.....
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May 26, 2020 02:52am
Time for IK to get a new strategy and new team to combat Covid-19!
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May 26, 2020 03:17am
@Hani_Layyah, 100% agree bro
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May 26, 2020 03:18am
@bimal william, what can you expect from Pak?
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May 26, 2020 03:21am
The time of "strict lockdown" has passed. Retention power of people has faded and now they will not stay inside. The desperation of people is brimming; any strict action now will definitely backfire. So, tread carefully Mr. Special Assistant to PM.
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May 26, 2020 04:48am
@Shahla, and you can distribute food and other basics to these irresponsible people forever
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May 26, 2020 04:49am
@Hani_Layyah, did he ask you to not take precautions. We need to grow up as a nation. The whole world opened up in a responsible way but us.
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May 26, 2020 05:13am
Lock down is not permanent solution.
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May 26, 2020 07:18am
Imposing lockdown has no meaning until and unless the citizens are educated enough to follow the rules. BUT, usually in rural areas, there is no discipline and hence the pandemic grows!
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May 26, 2020 07:40am
Why government is so worried about coronavirus as death rate in our country is minimal compared to others viruses and other countries. Don't only see death rate and numbers of new cases but also see how many are recovering.
If they lockdown country will it be beneficial for economy or will be disastrous. Before taking any decision think 100 times which is beneficial for our people and country.
Instead of locking down it will be better to make sure that every person wears mask if he comes out for which the government should distribute mask then see the result.
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May 26, 2020 08:13am
Our government imposed a nation wide lock down which controlled the spread of the pandemic to 115 deaths and about 7000 infections;much of the infections are with foreign labour (Pakistani,Bangla,Myanmar,Indonesians most of whom are illegal immigrants. Pakistan must also do likewise if they wish to control the pandemic but will their population cooperate?
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May 26, 2020 08:41am
Infections that may have been initiated around Eid may take four to ten days to become apparent.
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May 26, 2020 09:25am
Just do it
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May 26, 2020 09:30am
The PM eased up on lockdowns out of economic necessity. He knew fully well what the dangers will be.
Now reintroduce lockdown and prime up the economic disbursements to the needy and and instruct the LEAs to be more strict. Salams
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May 26, 2020 09:43am
@Yasir, yes, but in short run it may not, but in long run it will.
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May 26, 2020 09:45am
@Yasir, there will be less infections.. do you understand that part of it?
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May 26, 2020 09:45am
@Faizan Taqi, waste of time.
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May 26, 2020 10:09am
Before the second wave hits, it is perhaps wise to reimpose lockdown for another two weeks and incease number of CoVID tests....break the transmission multiplier i.e. human to human.
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May 26, 2020 10:34am
No body can help us until and unless we take care of our selves. Government/ police can not force us to take precautions against pandemic. Economic activity must start. We can not give free rations to people for long. Special planning is required to meet the challenges of Coronavirous. It is political statement that our people are very responsible. In fact nobody takes his responsibility and think only about his personal interest. Very few people in our society think about their social responsibility. The big question is how the people can be persuaded that taking precautions against cornivirous is in their interest.
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May 26, 2020 10:36am
The whole point of lockdown was to build infrastructure, to have patients at a pace health system can cope.if that's not being done then there is no point at all.it is respiratory disease,it will go through massess once before it declines.only thing left now ,protect vulnerable group.your parents ,grand parents and those already down with some other disease.
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May 26, 2020 11:02am
I would appeal the concerns that they should go for a cerfew . As the public has still not taken this pandemic serious . As per the poverty in the country , the nation has already exebited their poverty as the lock down was eased to open the markets . Please save the nation
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May 26, 2020 11:18am
Lockdown is not the solution, try n educate the people, put heavy fines whoever doesn't follow the SOPs, we have to live with this flu for a longer time than assumed earlier.
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May 26, 2020 11:45am
@bimal william, So the Govt told people to congregate like herd in shopping centres??
People need to take personal responsibility, GOoP role is to inform and educate, citizens need to respect the rules.
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May 26, 2020 11:47am
How many companies are doing research on COVID19 VACCINE in Pakistan?
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May 26, 2020 11:50am
What about poor now? Was it lifted to benefit only traders during did shopping?
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May 26, 2020 12:20pm
When world imposed shutdown Pakistan opened everything, now world started easing pakistan going to lockdown.
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May 26, 2020 12:23pm
@G Ahmed, the rising no of cases show that people did not take SOP very seriously. But at the same time it is the duty of the govt to bring the situation under control, and that can be controlled and brought under control thru lock down and by increasing no of tests.
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May 26, 2020 12:28pm
Increase your testing to 100000 per day...
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May 26, 2020 01:09pm
please bill it to iron brother
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May 26, 2020 01:21pm
@Humanity United it is impossible only iron brother can help us
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May 26, 2020 01:58pm
Is this an effort to put the blame of rising number of cases on the people? The government made the call and the government has to be answerable vis-à-vis lockdown.
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May 26, 2020 02:07pm
More talking, less action is the problem with him and PTI govt.
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May 26, 2020 03:10pm
does lockdown before easing was helpful, no same numbers of cases were reported. The increase in cases slightly is due to increase in testing. The biggest thing is that we do not have many deaths but recovering speed is 15 times greater so why to lockdown. The lockdown will be bring the people below poverty level and also economic failures which will take us back to 90's level and will be disastrous for us.
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May 26, 2020 04:23pm
no clear or coherent policy on covid-19!
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May 26, 2020 05:39pm
Horrible condition in Pakistan but lockdown is week.
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May 26, 2020 07:26pm
Try sacrificing a black goat every day instead of a lockdown.
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May 26, 2020 08:45pm
mirza talks too much------lockdowns will starve poor labor/he is an elite w/o a heart
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May 26, 2020 09:17pm
This guy looks crooked
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May 26, 2020 09:23pm
Seems like coronavirus had taken a break for eid!!!
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May 27, 2020 12:55am
The way the Government chooses its words using the word like 'may'. IK is still not convinced of the lockdown.
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May 27, 2020 01:22am
In order to over come the raptured economy issue, you must fix the health issues.
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May 27, 2020 01:24am
Lock down now? too little too late !!
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May 27, 2020 06:51am
Lock down is not permanent solution.
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May 27, 2020 01:54pm
What will the daily wagers and other poor people do in lockdown? People dont have money to buy food and other basit needs. The people may not die due to Corona but will die of lockdown imposed on them.
The government should do something for the people so that the pandemic as well as the basic needs both could be handled.
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