Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan ended the coronavirus curve due to the government’s successful blocking policy, but warned that progress could be affected by the upcoming Eid and Muharram festivals.
Pakistan has reported 1,487 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 271,886 on Saturday.
“Pakistan is about to flatten the COVID-19 curve, but progress in engaging the virus may be affected by the upcoming Eid and Muharram festivals,” Qureshi said speaking to the media in his hometown of Multan.
Eid would be held on 1 August and Muharram would begin 20 days after the Eid. Qureshi said some experts warned that there would be 1.2 million infections and nearly 50,000 deaths as of July 30, but the projection turned out to be incorrect.
“Today, our ‘smart lock’ strategy has proven to be effective… and many countries are following the set through Prime Minister Imran Khan,” he said.
Qureshi said wedding halls, schools and restaurants could reopen if the country controlled the resurgence of the Eid and Muharram virus.
Meanwhile, Planning Minister Asad Umar, who chaired an assembly of the National Command and Operations Centre, reported on the implementation of measures in farm animal markets that are held to sell animals for slaughter at Eid-ul-Adha.
Umar, his occasional speech, suggested to others to avoid going to Eid’s entertainment venues and meetings.
“We celebrate this Eid simply,” he said.
He said the pandemic can be controlled by observing the social distance in prayers and the follow-up given.
He came here when more than 87% of Pakistanis were recovering from coronavirus, while the number of other people recovered reached 236596 on Saturday.
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