Coronavirus outbreak has yet to reach its peak, Qureshi tells NA session

• Qureshi says Pakistan has handled the coronavirus crisis far more better than other South Asian countries.
• Iran sent 4,000 to 5,000 corona affected Pakistanis to Balochistan despite Islamabad's request to wait until a quarantine facility was established: FM.
• Foreign minister says Pakistan's death and infection rate is 2.17 percent while it is 6.8 percent across the globe.

(Karachi) Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that coronavirus outbreak in Pakistan has yet to reach its peak and the real challenge has yet to come.

Addressing the National Assembly session on Monday, he said Pakistan has handled the coronavirus crisis far more better than other South Asian countries."Our death and infection rate is 2.17 percent while it is 6.8 percent across the globe. "We have escaped the larger consequences of this pandemic," he remarked.

The foreign minister said despite being a developing country with not so advanced healthcare system, Pakistan had held up better than most developed countries.

The FM said that Pakistan's coronavirus trajectory is different as compared to Europe and the United States.He added that those who compare Pakistan with other countries should consider facts and data.

He mentioned that coronavirus is an unprecedented challenge. The FM maintained that "different experiments" are being held to curb the spread of the virus until a vaccine is developed. He said that there is national emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Qureshi said that Iran sent 4,000 to 5,000 corona affected Pakistanis to Balochistan despite Islamabad's request to wait until a quarantine facility was established.

He lauded the efforts of the Balochistan government who facilitated the pilgrims despite limited resources.

Shah Mehmood also appreciated the measures taken bu Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah to curb spread of coronavirus. However, he said that despite provincial government's efforts, the lockdown did not prove vital and implemented in full spirit.

He said thousands of people would have died of hunger and poverty if lockdown had not been lifted in the country.

Speaking on the occasion, PML-N leader Khawaja Asif said that a complete lockdown lasting for a few weeks would have succeeded in curbing the spread of the coronavirus.

He said, "I accept this decision to ease the lockdown because factories aren't operating and daily wagers are suffering."

He added, "But if we had imposed a serious lockdown at the very start of the outbreak, then we would have been through with this crisis by now. Now when we need the lockdown the most, they are relaxing restrictions."

He said that it could take years for life to return to normality once the Covid-19 pandemic is over. PML-N leaders Khawaja Asif and Ahsan Iqbal urged the National Assembly speaker to give a ruling on the fact that their speeches from today's National Assembly session weren't being aired on television.

Federal Minister of Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar says hunger is as much a threat to Pakistan as the coronavirus itself.

"Ours is not a western developed country where people can sit home and eat. We have to balance hunger and poverty with the virus," he said in the National Assembly.

The reason that the country has not seen food shortages amid the coronavirus crisis is that the prime minister took "decisive action" on maintaining supply chains.

He said the government is doing its best to help mitigate people's economic pain, adding that the State Bank is also working on various schemes to help citizens who are suffering financially.