Google and Netflix have helped Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to lower burden on its telecom network by sharing some steps they have taken. Google has introduced new features and resources which links to the National Institute of Health (NIH) to provide locally relevant information to Pakistani users such as expansion of COVID-19 SOS Alerts and Knowledge Panels on Google Search, as well as YouTube Information Panels.
Pakistan has decided to keep its borders with Iran, Afghanistan and India closed for another two weeks as it stepped up efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf announced the decision but added that the government could give special waivers for flights if a country requests to evacuate its stranded citizens in Pakistan.
China has sent eight health experts in a special flight to Pakistan as a part of its assistance to help Pakistan combat the novel coronavirus. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the special flight will land at the Islamabad International Airport and the special team will stay in the country for two weeks.
Friday congregations will continue in Pakistan and mosques will not be placed on lockdown, according to Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman. Rehman said the meeting could not reach a consensus on a decree issued by Egypt’s Al-Azhar University. The decree said that a Muslim government could suspend congregational prayers. Rehman said people should offer sunnah and nawafil at home for all prayers, including Friday’s.
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.
Pakistan’s retail stores go online and have started providing online sales after the global lock down due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Sindh government also announced a partial lock down in the province, leading to all the shopping malls and restaurants to close down for a period of 15 days which effected the sales of stores.
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.
President of China Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Pakistan later this year and in his itinerary is the inauguration of an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant, which will be the biggest private EV venture in the country. The initial production capacity of the plant is 30,000 units annually and will be located near Lahore.
Saudi Arabia has permitted special flights to take Pakistani Umrah pilgrims back home until March 19. These special flights could take Pakistani pilgrims from the Jeddah and Madina airports, according to the Saudi aviation authority. Ferry flights from Pakistan will be able to land at these two Saudi airports. Earlier, Saudi Arabia announced suspension of all flight operations froim Pakistan for two weeks.
Twenty new cases of the coronavirus were reported in Pakistan on Sunday, taking the country’s tally to 53. Five new COVID-19 cases were reported in Karachi, the Sindh health department confirmed. Thirteen others returning from Iran via Taftan tested positive for the virus in Sukkur. This brought the total number of cases in Sindh to 35, the health department said. One coronavirus case was reported in Islamabad, according to PIMS spokesperson Dr Waseem Khawaja.