Motorway Police announced that all motorways in Pakistan will remain closed for general traffic. The decision was taken in a bid to restrict movement and help prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. For now, only fuel tankers and vehicles that are transporting essential items such as food will allowed to travel.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has increased the printing of its currency notes to replace the coroanvirus-contaminated notes. Experts have said that following the decision, it’s likely that inflation would go up, causing prices of essential items to increase. Economist Baqir Jaffari clarified that prices of in the economy increase when the bank increases its liabilities and the money supply in the economy without any reason.
Saudi Arabia has told Pakistan not to prepare a Hajj agreement as the coronavirus continues to spread across the world. Saudi Arabia Hajj Minister Dr Saleh bin Taher Benten told the Pakistani government in a letter written on Thursday that there should be no agreement till the coronavirus situation is clear. He wrote that the Saudi government is taking measures to remain careful.
The Shawn Mendes Foundation that is a non profit organization made a donation of $175,000 to the SickKids Foundation earlier this week for coronavirus relief. The donated amount would serve the purpose of purchasing equipment and supplies to prepare for the coronavirus in Toronto’s The Hospital for Sick Children. Shawn Mendes in a statement said that they hope to help provide support in the urgent screening and prevention of COVID-19 for their patients and the surrounding community of Toronto.
Veteran Afro-jazz legend Manu Dibango died on Tuesday after contracting the new coronavirus, one of the first worldwide stars to succumb to the disease. According to his music publisher Thierry Durepaire, The 86-year-old Cameroonian, best known for the 1972 hit ‘Soul Makossa died early morning in a hospital in the Paris region. A message on his official Facebook page confirmed that his death had come after he contracted Covid-19.
Gunmen and suicide bombers attacked a Sikh religious complex in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Wednesday, and up to 200 people were believed to be trapped inside. Afghan security forces had blocked off the area and were taking on the attackers. It was not immediately clear how many attackers there were or who they were. It was not known if there were any casualties.
The US dollar touched eight-month high against rupee and rose by Rs3 to Rs162 in the opening hours of the interbank market on Wednesday. According to market sources, the increase in dollar’s value can be attributed to the central bank’s Tuesday night decision to cut the monetary policy rate, bringing it down to 11%.
The price of petrol has been slashed by Rs15 as a breather for the public under a complete lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak in Pakistan. After the cost reduction, petrol will be available for Rs96.58 per litre while high diesel will cost Rs107.25 and light diesel be sold for Rs62.51 per litre. Meanwhile, kerosene oil will cost Rs77.45.
Japan’s prime minister and the head of the International Olympic Committee agreed to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Games by a year, as the world battles the coronavirus pandemic. The move would be a devastating blow for the city of Tokyo, which had won widespread praise for its organisation, with venues finished well ahead of time and tickets massively oversubscribed.
China has announced to lift the lockdown imposed on coronavirus epicentre Wuhan last December. The decision will come into affect from April 8 after which people will be able to leave the city and the Hubei province, the government announced on Tuesday. The development came after Hubei reported zero new infections on March 19. Previously, China had reported 80,000 cases and 3,200 fatalities from the virus.