Bilawal calls for a lockdown all over Pakistan

F.P. Report

KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called for a countrywide lockdown on Thursday, as the number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan exceeded 370.

The worldwide death toll from the virus has jumped to more than 9,200. Pakistan has so far reported two deaths.

Bilawal said now was not the time to criticise the prime minister. “We all have to jointly fight the coronavirus and together we can do this,” he said at a press conference in Karachi.

The PPP chairman said that self-isolation was necessary to contain the spread of the virus.

“This is a time to take concrete measures,” he said. “If concrete measures were not taken then a huge loss would be caused to the economy.”

It was a responsibility of the Sindh government to protect the lives of the people, Bilawal said. It was doing everything it could at the time.

He said the provincial government was going to set up a major field hospital at the Expo Center in Karachi.

The PPP chairman also promised that the government would provide ration bags to daily-wage workers.

Meanwhile, the Sindh chief minister said on Thursday that Rs3 billion had been deposited in the provincial government fund to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

The fund had been established under the chief secretary, according to CM Murad Ali Shah. The government was reducing other expenditures and directing its resources towards the issue.