Quetta: The Nurses Welfare Organisation of Pakistan has called upon the federal government to impose a curfew across the country to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Speaking at a press conference here on Friday, deal organisation’s Secretary General Faheem Abbas said if the government did not take the coronavirus epidemic seriously the situation in Pakistan would not be different from Italy and other European countries where coronavirus has claimed thousands of lives.

“The government must impose curfew at least for 15 days strictly. We assure you that if this proposal is implemented, the coronavirus will be controlled in 15 days,” he said.

He said nurses were on the frontline along with doctors in the fight against coronavirus. “The growth of coronavirus cases in Pakistan is 40 per cent, which is higher than any other country, while our capacity to test is very limited,” he added.

As the coronavirus was spreading in the country, there were fears of shortage of space in hospitals, he said.

Mr Abbas said more than 50 nurses had lost their lives around the world, while three nurses had died in Pakistan due to coronavirus and a large number of them had been infected with the virus.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2020