Practice Self-Quarantine Lockdown Is Not An Option, Says PM Khan

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Prime Minister Imran Khan announced in his address on Sunday that people need to act responsibly against coronavirus and practice self-quarantine a bit more strictly.

The perplexity regarding coronavirus and the government’s measure taken to combat its spread came to arise when corona started spreading in the country at an even faster rate than Italy and Iran. Most parts of the country were already forced into self-quarantine. However, now people are looking up to a complete lockdown of the country.

But PM Khan declared that Pakistan cannot afford a total lockdown at any cost.

“Let me tell you what a lockdown is. A lockdown means putting a curfew and restricting people to their homes with the military on the streets,” said PM Imran.

“Pakistan cannot afford to impose a total lockdown. 25 percent of the people in the country live below the poverty line,” explained the premier. “What will happen to the 25 percent poor people in the country if I go ahead with the lockdown?”

So, his request is for people to start practicing self-quarantine to stand safe against corona outbreak.

Pakistan’s Per Capita Income Is Lower Than Other Countries

PM Khan further added that the per capita income of countries like Italy, France, America, or England is higher than Pakistan’s. He would’ve implemented a lockdown instantly if the country’s economy was as strong as the others said Khan.

So, in case of a complete lockdown people wouldn’t be able to step out of their houses which would be a trouble to the poor sector of the nation. They won’t have the resources to feed their family for 2 weeks without stepping out of the house.

Moreover, the premier said that during the lockdown in China, the government provided people food at home because it had an economy that could support the lockdown as it is the world’s second rich country.

“We don’t have the capacity to provide all these people food at home as China did,” said Khan in his address.

Act Responsibly, Stay At Home

He also explained that the only cause of the spread of this virus is that despite the fact that the government has ordered the closure of schools, universities, shopping malls, restaurants, stadiums, etc. people are still going out as if it was some vacation. People who continue celebrating weddings and attending large functions are putting the elderly at risk.

“If this virus spreads because of the irresponsibility of the young, it is old and the weak who will suffer and will have to go to the hospitals as they are the most vulnerable against this virus,” Khan remarked.

So Khan requests the nation to stay at home. Moreover, Pakistani celebrities have also been urging people to stay home.

Remain Calm And Do Not Hoard

Prime Minister Khan requested people to be more disciplined and act wisely because the bigger threat is the panic and chaos among people.

Regarding the shortage of food supplies, he informs, “No one should fear that the country will run out of food supplies because we have enough so people do not need to hoard.”

He appeals to people to have faith in him and his team as they are focused on figuring out ways on how to tackle this pandemic and to make people’s lives safer and easier.

“I take pride in my nation, we have braved many problems and crises. The Pakistani nation has united to fight challenges whenever the country has been faced with it. A nation’s character is found in hard times and I saw my nation’s character in the 2005 earthquake and 2010 floods,” he remarked.

The prime minister said Pakistan could also overcome this pandemic like China if the public remains disciplined.

He also informed, “I will be announcing about how we can keep our economy afloat next week.”

Like his previous in this one too the premier ruled out the possibility of a lockdown saying that the federal government is not in favor of lockdown as it will turn out to be difficult for the poor and disastrous for the economy.

People’s Reaction On PM Imran Khan’s Address Regarding Corona

Some people were positive about the stance of PM Khan saying that people shouldn’t need an army to force them to stay at home. They should know the risk and self-quartine them as the PM says.

However, there are some people who are citing the example of Italy saying that they also delayed the lockdown and it turned out fatal for the country.

And some simply denied the decision making capability of the government.

Anyhow, there is only one thing that people need to understand that being cautious and staying at home is the only way to survive the pandemic. So stay home, stay safe.

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