Imran Khan urges nation to learn to live with Covid-19 pandemic

Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday said with no vaccination developed for the COVID-19 pandemic so far, the people should learn to live with the contagion for about a year and save them by following the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), including social distancing, advised by the health experts from across the world.

“We have to put in our minds that we have to live with the coronavirus at least by the end of this year. And it is our responsibility to take precautionary measures and protect ourselves [from this disease],” PM Khan said in a televised media briefing about the latest situation of COVID-19 in the country.

The prime minister said if he had any surety of the COVID-19 ending in two or three months, he would have gone for a complete lockdown for three months and had made arrangements to reach out to the poor and deserving with food items at their doorsteps.

“The experts and scientists from across the world have not found any treatment of the coronavirus, and the vaccine will also not be available this year,” he said.

Imran Khan said as the virus spread fast through gatherings and crowds, the people were required to strictly follow the SOPs and guidelines to protect themselves from the deadly contagion.

He said the countries and regions, which had opted for lockdown after the outbreak of coronavirus including Wuhan (China), South Korea, Singapore and Japan, were witnessing another spike in the virus after reopening their cities. “Now we in Pakistan like other countries in the world also have to live with this virus,” he remarked.

Imran Khan said besides the disruption in the immunization campaigns for diseases like polio and tuberculosis, the COVID-19 situation had also affected the country’s education system.

Due to the measures taken by the government, he said, there was no problem in the supply of food items during the holy month of Ramazan and no undue price hike was witnessed.

The prime minister also mentioned the reduction of petroleum prices in the country and said the prices petroleum products in Pakistan were 40 to 50 percent lower when compared with other regional countries.

He urged the people not to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr, which was different from the previous years due to the coronavirus, as a usual family occasion, and exercise caution and follow the SOPs to protect themselves from the deadly contagion.

The prime minister hoped that the people of Pakistan would emerge as a strong nation from the current challenge of coronavirus.