Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday that if the current trend of low Covid-19 cases continued throughout Muharram, all businesses, including marriage halls, restaurants, educational institutions and those related to the tourism industry, might reopen.
Addressing the nation, Prime Minister Khan urged people to start taking precautionary measures during Eidul Azha and Muharram to avoid a spike in novel coronavirus cases as was seen soon after Eidul Fitr.
“Be careful. If we pass Eid and Muharram with caution, there are chances that all closed businesses might reopen,” the prime minister said.
In situations where it will strike the economy of the country hard and also affect those in the vulnerable age group, the country cannot tolerate another spike, Prime Minister Khan said, urging people to observe their animal sacrifice ritual online and to follow the standard operating procedures ( SOPs) if they have to visit the animal market.
“I urge people to go for online Qurbani and avoid visiting animal markets,” he said, adding that in case people do visit these markets, they must adopt all SOPs and wear masks.
“Opt for online sacrifice of animals to avoid gatherings in a bid to control mass spread of the virus,” he added.
He also cautioned shopkeepers and customers not to violate the SOPs, asking them to maintain social distance when shopping and not to take the same reckless approach they did two months ago during Eidul Fitr.
“If we are not cautious during Eid and Muharram, cases might rise again and the situation can worsen. Allah Almighty has blessed our country as the number of cases is declining,” he said in his address.
“If we are not careful, it could prove dangerous for our economy and for the aged and ailing people,” he added.
The prime minister took the credit of opting for a smart lockdown, saying his government was the world’s first to implement this strategy, later followed by other countries.
“Our government was the first to introduce smart lockdown in March instead of the strict curfew-like measures imposed in India, Europe and China,” the prime minister added.
” Despite pressures and criticism by various segments of the society, the government preferred the smart lockdown instead of complete closure as it had realized that Pakistan’s situation was nothing compared to that of Europe and China. We had to save our people both from coronavirus and starvation,” he said.
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