ISLAMABAD: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif has called upon the government to take emergency and serious measures to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

He stressed the need for coordination and cooperation between institutions of the federal and provincial governments to ensure flawless functioning of this system.

In a statement issued from London and released by the PML-N’s media section here on Tuesday, Mr Sharif said the current government was dealing with the new deadly coronavirus with the same dereliction as they did with dengue and polio, which was extremely dangerous. He said the federal and provincial governments must collaborate to form a joint strategy to safeguard the population.

The PML-N chief called for immediate establishment of special medical facilities for the treatment on the same lines as China. He said traditional lip service and routine eyewash measure would prove to be a mega blunder in this case. He said a specialist task force comprising the most relevant and competent doctors must be readied. He also called for a thorough procedure of monitoring and diagnosis to be delineated.

Senate interior committee chairman Rehman Malik, through a notice, has directed that a detailed report on the ‘Potential threat of coronavirus and precautionary measure’ may be presented in the committee meeting.

In a related development, Senate Standing Committee on Interior chairman Rehman Malik of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has convened an urgent meeting of the committee on Thursday (today) to discuss precautionary measures being taken by the government, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and other stakeholders to stop the potential spread of coronavirus in the country.

Mr Malik asked as to what strategy the FIA had adopted in coordination with other functionaries on all airports, seaports and all other entry points across the country and what medical measures so far had been taken regarding the testing of the passengers arriving in Pakistan from abroad.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2020