The Punjab Cabinet, which met on Tuesday with Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar in the chair, approved "Corona Ordinance 2020' under which the government can control the movement of any person in a bid to prevent the spread of virus across the province.
During the meeting, CM Usman Buzdar said that under this ordinance, the government can control the movement of any person and the provincial authorities can also direct any person to stay at home for some period of time.
The CM also announced summer vacations before the due time and said that the educational institutions will remain closed till May 31 across the province. The institutions will take half fee from the parents of the children while full salary will be given to the teachers, he directed. It was also decided to induct 10,000 doctors and paramedical staff in wake of growing threat of coronavirus in the province.
The CM and other ministers have also announced to donate a month's salary in Corona Fund. While addressing a press conference with provincial finance and health ministers, CM Usman Buzdar said that funds of Rs 11 billion have been transferred to the health department and clarified that the government has not imposed any lockdown or curfew.
He stated that SOPs for mosques have been issued, adding that local bodies' elections have been postponed for nine months. The CM reiterated that the provincial government had neither imposed a lockdown nor a curfew in the province, saying that the health department was ready to battle the coronavirus.
The CM said that the government was focused on ensuring the poor were looked after as long as the pandemic lasted. "I want to make it clear that this is not a curfew or a lockdown, as you can read in the notification," he said. "We want to make sure that the poor and the daily wage earners are looked after."