VIDEO: Imran says Pakistanis stranded abroad will be repatriated, relaxes ban on tourism

Tariq Butt / Associated Press

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan says he is relaxing more coronavirus restrictions implemented in March, including a ban on tourism, as authorities reported 60 more COVID-19-related deaths.

Imran said on Monday Pakistanis must learn how to live with the coronavirus, as lockdown is not a treatment for the disease. He was addressing the nation after a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC).

In its meeting, the NCC decided to maintain a complete lockdown on weekends to curb the coronavirus and to not change shop timings. It also eased the restrictions for Fridays, sources told local media.

Chaired by Imran, the meeting discussed whether or not the countrywide lockdown should be extended or relaxed, as coronavirus cases continue to surge across Pakistan.

The premier also announced that all the Pakistani nationals stranded abroad will be repatriated to the country.

“I want to talk about overseas Pakistanis. I’m worried about our labourers in the Gulf countries. They send valuable remittances to us.”

“We have decided that we will bring all of them back. This is good news for them and their families,” Imran said.

He, however, stated that the government will test them all on arrival but that they will have to quarantine themselves if they are infected.

His blunt televised remarks drew criticism on social media when he said the virus would continue to spread, causing more deaths if people did not observe social distancing rules. Pakistan has registered 1,543 fatalities amid 72,460 cases.

The country has witnessed an increase in coronavirus-related deaths since it eased lockdown ahead of the holiday of Eid Al Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan.

Addressing the frontline healthcare workers fighting against Covid-19, the prime minister said that while his thoughts and prayers were with them during their “jihad” against the virus, they needed to understand that lifting the lockdown was necessary, as the country has more than 50 million people who live below the poverty line.

Imran said that the country’s tourism industry should be revived once again, stating that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) governments will soon issue SOPs to allow reopening of the sector.

“I think that tourism should be revived because that sector provides jobs to many in GB and elsewhere,” he said.

Special Assistant  Dr Zafar Mirza has said only 28 per cent of the available ventilators are currently being used for coronavirus patients.

During a chat with reporters, he dispelled the impression that there was a shortage of hospital beds, ventilators or other facilities for COVID-19 patients. “There are 723 patients who are in a critical condition and 201 of them are on ventilators,” he added.