Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called for a countrywide lockdown, as the number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan exceeded 370. Bilawal said that this was not the time to criticise the Prime Minister and we all have to jointly fight the virus. The PPP chairman said that self-isolation was necessary to contain the spread of the virus.
Pakistan on Thursday closed the Wagah Border temporarily in its bid to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country. The border will remain closed for 2 weeks, according to the notification issued by the interior ministry. The moves comes after the increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Pakistan.The moves comes after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases hit 329 in Pakistan.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has temporarily barred entry to all passengers due to the coronavirus outbreak. The passengers except UAE and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nationals (excluding those from Qatar), and diplomatic passport-holders are prohibited to enter. The notification issued by the UAE Supreme Council for National Security said that temporary travel restriction was effective immediately, starting 8am (GMT) or 12pm (UAE local time) and until further notice.
The Sindh government has decided to convert the Karachi Expo Centre into a 10,000-bed hospital. The decision was made during a meeting of the provincial task force on coronavirus. The chief minister has also directed the authorities to distribute 2 million grocery bags among needy families. He observed that people seem worried about food availability in view of a partial lockdown in the city.
The Sindh government has released Rs7 billion to the health department to ensure it lacks no resources to contain the outbreak of the coronavirus. Previously, the amount was supposed to be given in second and third quarterly installments, but were given all at once on Wednesday. Of the total amount, Rs4 billion will be used to buy medicines.
South African cricket team has been told to undergo a 14-day period of self-isolation in order to prevent the spread of of coronavirus following their return from an aborted tour of India. The players arrived back to their country on Wednesday, ten days after departing on a tour during which they played no cricket.
Airlift, a bus ride-hailing service has suspended all ts operations across Pakistan until April 6 in a bid to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The online ride-hailing service announced this in a notification sent to users. The decision was taken after rising coronavirus cases in the country. The notification sent out asked customers to avoid bus rides because they pose a high-risk environment.
Indian army has denied entry to sports journalists returning back to India after covering the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 that came to an end due to the rising coronavirus cases in Pakistan. The army refused the 29 members of the broadcast crew to enter their country at the Wagah-Attari border crossing and were asked to head to Dubai first and then catch a direct flight for India.
Examinations will be rescheduled after June 1, according to the Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood. The decision was taken as Pakistan’s tally of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to rise. The minister said that the foreign institutions and domestic boards are bound to implement the government’s decisions and the examinations may be scheduled between June 1 and July 15, 2020 if the situation improves.
Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) examinations scheduled to held in May/June have been postponed, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood tweeted Tuesday evening. He said Cambridge will announce the new dates for the exams and the decision to postpone O and A level was taken in a meeting where Ms Uzma Yousaf, head of Cambridge in Pakistan, was present.