Pakistan keen to learn from Singapore’s deft handling of Covid-19

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday said Pakistan looked forward to learn from Singapore’s experience in the field of epidemiology as the country took deft measures to contain spread of Coronavirus.

In a telephone call to his Singaporean counterpart Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Qureshi commended Singapore’s handling of the public health crisis, saying timely measures helped in containing the spread of the virus. Qureshi also evinced interest in the Singapore’s application ‘TraceTogether’ to break the chain of transmission.

‘TraceTogether’ supports Singapore’s efforts to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 through community-driven contact tracing. It uses Bluetooth signals to determine if someone is near another TraceTogether user, making proximity data encrypted and stored on the phone. Qureshi thanked the Singapore government for facilitating the return of Pakistani nationals from Singapore. The Singapore Foreign Minister also appreciated Pakistan’s support in the repatriation of Singaporean nationals from Pakistan. Foreign Minister Qureshi highlighted Prime Minister Imran Khan’s call for debt relief and restructuring to help developing countries create the fiscal space needed to combat the disease, save precious human lives and shore up economies. The two Foreign Ministers agreed to stay engaged on Covid-19 and other matters of mutual interest.