Coronavirus outbreak: PM to chair NCC meeting today

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan will chair second meeting of National Coordination Committee (NCC) on coronavirus outbreak today. This was informed by Special Assistant on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza while addressing a news briefing in Islamabad. He said the meeting will review implementation status of the decisions taken during the previous meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC). The special assistant said the committee of parliamentary leaders is being constituted to oversight situation arising out of coronavirus pandemic. Talking about coronavirus statistics in Pakistan, he said so far, total confirmed cases are 1022 with Islamabad 20, Punjab 310, Sindh 413, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 80, Balochistan 117, Azad Jammu and Kashmir one, and Gilgit-Baltistan 81. He said five hundred thousand N-95 masks have been received from China, while personal protection equipment will arrive in Pakistan within next two days. A day earlier, PM Imran Khan has feared that lockdown may trigger large-scale unemployment. Addressing the parliamentary leaders meeting via video link, he said that the closure of transport would create shortage of food items. “All political parties will have to make decisions jointly,” he said. He urged political parties to come forward and join forces with the government to reassess the situation. “A complete lockdown will also have a disastrous impact on the construction industry leaving the labour class jobless and we should take care of this.” The prime minister said that any decision taken out of fear and panic will have its repercussions, which should be kept in view before taking any extreme step. “The government is working on raising a volunteer force to enhance response to fight the disease and provide relief to the poor people.”