ISLAMABAD, APR 26 – Chairman of National Business Group of FPCCI, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Monday said Pakistan should learn from disaster in India are immediately impose lockdown before the situation goes out of control.
The world’s largest vaccine producing country India is paying a heavy price for not realizing the threat on the government level and lax attitude of the masses and we still have some time to avoid the reappearance of the disaster of this magnitude, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that economy cannot be preferred over human lives and that Prime Minister Imran Khan is reluctant to enforce a complete lockdown in major cities as it will hit poor and daily wagers.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the government lack resources to feed underprivileged during the lockdown but full observation of SOPs should be ensured.
The cities badly hit by virus should be locked down, shopping centres should be closed, unnecessary services should be discontinued while public transport should be banned and educational institutions should be closed to save precious lives, he demanded.
These steps will reduce the burden of crumbling healthcare infrastructure and it will also tackle the shortage of oxygen and its skyrocketing prices.
He noted that state-run and private hospitals are running out of beds and oxygen cylinders but the majority of masses are still not serious about the pandemic which will result in doomsday scenario.
The presence of army on streets and shopping centers will improve the situation to some extent while violators of SOPs should be dealt with sternly to give a clear message.
Industries should be allowed to run with 25 percent staff and labor while lockdown should be imposed in consultation with provincial governments, ample availability of oxygen and vaccines should be ensured and political parties should work together setting aside their petty interests, he said.
