LAHORE: The government of Pakistan has on Friday announced that the ongoing ‘lockdown’ has been extended till May 9. Planning Minister Asad Umar held a press conference to inform the nation that the countrywide lockdown has been extended for another 15 days.
Although the federal minister claimed that the decision was taken after consultation with all the provinces, analysts believe that Prime Minister Imran Khan had made it quite clear during his live telethon on Thursday that he was not in favour of the lockdown and had termed Sindh’s decision of going into the lockdown a ‘panicked response’.
Our correspondent from Lahore on Friday stated that long queues could be seen outside major retail stores across the city. The same was the case with all the big markets as people thronged to markets in preparation for Ramzan that begins tomorrow.
A Twitter user from Lahore tweeted on Friday that it was 'useless lockdown' and rendered the home isolation pointless.
https://twitter.com/im_khalidbutt/status/1253728895297368064
“No restrictions were being observed. Only the restaurants are closed. All other businesses are open. It seems the ‘smart lockdown’ in effect means no lockdown at all”, Naya Daur's correspondent reported.
Our correspondents in Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Islamabad, and Hyderabad have reported the ineffective lockdowns and common breach of social distancing measures.
Although the federal minister claimed that the decision was taken after consultation with all the provinces, analysts believe that Prime Minister Imran Khan had made it quite clear during his live telethon on Thursday that he was not in favour of the lockdown and had termed Sindh’s decision of going into the lockdown a ‘panicked response’.
Our correspondent from Lahore on Friday stated that long queues could be seen outside major retail stores across the city. The same was the case with all the big markets as people thronged to markets in preparation for Ramzan that begins tomorrow.
A Twitter user from Lahore tweeted on Friday that it was 'useless lockdown' and rendered the home isolation pointless.
https://twitter.com/im_khalidbutt/status/1253728895297368064
“No restrictions were being observed. Only the restaurants are closed. All other businesses are open. It seems the ‘smart lockdown’ in effect means no lockdown at all”, Naya Daur's correspondent reported.
Our correspondents in Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Islamabad, and Hyderabad have reported the ineffective lockdowns and common breach of social distancing measures.