E-Paper PDF 29th February 2020 (ISB)

CMYK

29 March, 2020 I 04 Shaban, 1441 I Rs 20.00 I Vol X No 270 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

corona cases reach 1,500, death toll hits 12 g

GOvt extenDs BOrDers CLOsUre FOr tWO Weeks, Week-LOnG Ban On OUtBOUnD FLiGHts FrOM 29tH

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PUnJaB LeaDs PrOvinCiaL taLLY WitH 557 Cases FOLLOWeD BY 469 in sinDH

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nDMa CHieF saYs Over 400 ventiLatOrs tO arrive BY MiD-aPriL, GOvt tO Hire LaB teCHniCians aMiD sHOrtaGe man Lt Gen Muhammad afzal said Pakistan will receive 15 ventilators from China tonight. in addition to that, the country will import 400 machines will by mid-april, he said, adding the nDMa has placed an order for over 650 ventilators. Gen afzal said that five ventilators have been sent to Gilgit-Baltistan. the national institute of Health was facing a severe shortage of lab technicians, he revealed. in order to bridge the gap, the nDMa will put out an advertisement on Monday, inviting applications from molecular biologists. Chosen candidates will be inducted at Grade-14 of the government service level and will be given contractual employment for four to six months.

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD

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staff report

akistan’s coronavirus tally on saturday touched 1,415, as the country struggles to contain cases after losing 12 lives to the pandemic since the outbreak in February. adviser to khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister on information, ajmal Wazir has confirmed a fourth death from coronavirus in the province. the woman belonged to the Lower Dir area and had recently returned from Umrah. Her village has been put under quarantine. twenty-five people have so far recovered from the virus. Punjab leads the provinces with 557 cases, followed by sindh with its 469 cases. Balochistan and khyber Pakhtunkhwa have so far detected 133 and 188 cases, respectively. With the emergence of new cases, islamabad has now 39 cases. azad Jammu kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan have 109 cases as of now. Pakistan’s rising number of cases is being attributed to gross mismanagement of pilgrims at the taftan quarantine centre and people’s reluctance to obey the social distancing directives. a contingent of seven buses carrying 204 pilgrims who had been under quarantine at the taftan border left on saturday to take the pilgrims back to their homes. Of the 204 pilgrims, 77 are from Balochistan, 63 from Punjab, 59 from sindh and 5 from khyber Pakhtunkhwa. CRITERIA FOR CORONA TEST: adviser to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza has identified four types of peo-

HYDERABAD: Rangers personnel punish youths for loitering on the roads on Saturday amid a lockdown imposed in Sindh and other provinces to prevent the spread of coronavirus. i n p

ple who can get tested for coronavirus: asthma patients who have come in contact with Covid-19 patients; patients with respiratory illnesses or immuno-deficiencies; asthma patients who are health workers; patients who are currently admitted in hospitals and are severely ill. addressing a press conference in the federal capital, Mirza said so far 25 people have recovered. Presenting the

latest statistics on the confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Pakistan, Mirza said that so far there are 1,408 cases, with 11 deaths. Mirza said that 7,180 people are in quarantine facilities across the country. PM’s aide on security Dr Moeed Yusuf said Pakistan’s eastern and western borders will remain closed for two more weeks. He said that until april 4, the interna-

Army sets up 182 quarantine facilities across Pakistan

RAWALPINDI staff report

the Pakistan army is helping civil administration and law enforcement agencies to ensure measures for containment of COviD-19 with a focus on public safety, said the inter-services Public relations (isPr) in a statement giving details of the arrangements on saturday. according to the statement, the troops have been deployed across the country in aid of civil power under article 245. “Contact tracking, tracing to identify and isolate suspected individuals being done to ensure containment of COviD19 spread. army troops assisting in the management of quarantine facilities. a total of 182 Quarantine facilities have

been established across the country,” the isPr said. according to details, army troops are assisting civil administration for enforcement measures in various parts of azad Jammu kashmir, including kotli, Bhimber, Mirpur, Barnala, Muzaffarabad, Bagh, kel, and rawalakot. in Balochistan, troops are deployed in awaran, Dukki, Chaghi, Lasbela, kalat, naushki, khuzdar, sibbi and Gwadar. “army troops, doctors and paramedics assisting civil administration in managing taftan quarantine facility. an additional container-based quarantine facility for 600 individuals being established at taftan,” said the statement. “a tent-based quarantine facility with 805 tents and allied facilities as per best

practices is being established at Chaman. army field medical battalion with specialist doctors and paramedics deployed at Chaman for the management of the facility. Container-based Quarantine facility for 300 individuals being established at village killi Faizu, Chaman,” it said. in Gilgit- Baltistan, troops are deployed in all 10 districts and far-flung areas to assist civil administration for enforcement measures, screening and testing measures, said isPr. “Pakistan army helicopters flew special sorties through khunjrab pass for transporting and distribution of medical equipment received from China, including five ventilators, 2,000 testing kits, 2,000 medical suits, 2,000 n95 masks, and 0.2 million face masks.” in islamabad, joint check posts on entry and exit points have been established while joint patrolling with police and isolation of suspected localities is being carried out, the statement added. “in khyber Pakhtunkhwa, troops are deployed in 26 districts. Four border terminals and interprovincial boundaries are being manned and managed at Drazinda. army troops are assisting civil administration for the management of quarantine camps at Drazinda, Gomal University, D.i. khan and Post Graduate Paramedic institutes Peshawar.” a quarantine facility for 1,500 individuals being established at Landi kotal and Jamrud. army troops and Leas are ensuring isolation of 10 residential areas of confirmed cases at Peshawar, Mardan, Charsada and Buner, said isPr.

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tional airspace will remain close. From March 29, a week-long ban on all outgoing flights will come into effect. Dr Yusuf said that depending on ‘case to case basis’ if any country requests a flight to take back its citizens then it will be discussed. He maintained that the domestic flights were still banned. addressing the reporters, national Disaster Management authority Chair-

KP govt announces Rs11.4bn relief package to ward off coronavirus crisis STORY ON PAGE 04

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Italy, Spain suffer record virus deaths as infection rate surges STORY ON BACK PAGE

‘Clear we have entered recession,’ says iMF chief STORY ON BACK 09

PIA facing major bankruptcy risk, claims Bloomberg STORY ON BACK 09

taliban say will not negotiate with team announced by afghan govt STORY ON BACK 09

Shehbaz blasts govt for poor economic policies STORY ON BACK 03

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Sunday, 29 March, 2020

NEWS

ChineSe MediCAl TeAM, relief GoodS Arrive To ASSiST PAKiSTAn in CoronA fiGhT ISLAMABAD

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APP

HINA is extending full support to Pakistan in its efforts to contain the coronavirus. China’s assistance to Pakistan so far includes 12,000 test kits, 300,000 masks, 10,000 protective suits, and support to build an isolation hospital. The plane carried over 10,000 test kits, 10,000 N95 masks, 100,000 disposable medical masks,5,000 medical protec-

tive clothes, five ventilators, 11 defibrillator monitors and 62,000 sets of drugs for treating COVID-19. A considerable amount of donations from private sources from China has also arrived in Pakistan. Alibaba Foundation and Jack Ma Foundation have donated 50,000 test kits and 500,000 face masks. China also handed over two tons of masks, test kits, ventilators, medical protective clothes through Khunjerab. The team of medical experts will as-

sist the local doctors and health experts in battling the coronavirus. The team will stay in Pakistan for two weeks. The Pakistan-China All-weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership has acquired greater strength and depth in recent years, guided by the shared vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Xi Jinping. President Dr Arif Alvi, accompanied by Foreign Minister Qureshi and Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, visited Beijing on March 16-17,

2020 to express Pakistan’s abiding support and solidarity with China in its fight against Coronavirus. Pakistan and China continue to collaborate closely and coordinate relief assistance to counter the formidable challenges posed by COVID-19. Talking to media persons at the airport Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi thanked the Chinese leadership for sending the medical team to share their experiences with Pakistani counterparts to fight the pandemic. “Chinese have once again shown to the world that they are friends of Pakistan. They care for us. We stand with each other in difficult times. This is a unique relationship and such testing times tell us how close we are to each other,” he remarked. The foreign minister said the government’s first priority was to protect medical workers who were in the first line of duty for what the supplies had arrived and would be distributed soon. He said the government was trying to double the number of the ventilators and the testing capacity which would be remarkably enhanced after the arrival of a walk-through testing facility. Regarding the return of the stranded Pakistanis abroad, the foreign minister said the arrangements were being made to receive them at the airport. Later, he also inspected the arrangements at the airport where he was also briefed by the health officials about the protocols to be followed on the arrival of the Pakistanis from abroad.

Qureshi urges UNSC to help resolve Kashmir dispute ISLAMABAD APP

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in his recent letter to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has demanded its role in resolving the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and ensure giving right of self-determination to Kashmiris under relevant resolutions. In line with the government’s efforts to continuously highlight the dire human rights and humanitarian situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K), the foreign minister addressed another letter to the President of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) on March 9, drawing attention to developments in IOJ&K as well as belligerent Indian rhetoric and aggressive actions on the ground. Qureshi made clear that durable peace and stability in South Asia would remain contingent upon a just and lasting solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. The foreign minister has been regularly updating the UNSC president and

the UNSG on the Indian actions in IOJ&K since August 5, 2019 that pose threat to peace and security in South Asia. In his letter, Qureshi rejected India’s false narrative of “normalcy” in IOJ&K, drew attention to the reprehensible remarks of the Indian Chief of Defence Staff about “deradicalization” camps for Kashmiri youth and highlighted intensified ceasefire violations by the Indian

forces on Line of Control (LoC) since December 12, 2019. He stressed the possibility of India staging a ‘false flag’ operation to divert international attention from the grave human rights and humanitarian situation in IOJ&K. The foreign minister also highlighted irresponsible statements by the Indian leadership, including by the Indian Prime

Minister, threatening the use of force against Pakistan. He pointed India’s machinations seeking to change the demographic structure of IOJ&K. In this regard, he drew attention to forcible confiscation of properties of Kashmiris and allocation of over 6,000 acres of land to non-Kashmiris in clear violation of international law, including the 4th Geneva Convention. The foreign minister also underlined that the targeted killings of Muslims in New Delhi in February 2020 were directly attributable to the “majoritarian mindset” and supremacist and divisive “Hindutva” ideology. In further follow-up of the foreign minister’s letter, Pakistan has been calling for immediate lifting of communication restrictions and unfettered access to medical and other essential supplies in IOJ&K in the wake of outbreak of coronavirus in the occupied territory. Similar voices have been raised by human rights organizations and the civil society, particularly after the confirmed cases and a death in IOJ&K due to the coronavirus.

More than 2,000 pilgrims from Saudi Arabia remain unaccounted for in KP: report Authorities were unable to trace a large number of people who recently returned from Saudi Arabia, according to a report by a private news channel. The development comes as coronavirus cases continue to rise across the country with more than 1,400 confirmed cases. According to official documents, 2,887 people were unaccounted for due to wrong data provided to the officials upon their return. The documents revealed that 5,182 people returned from the kingdom in recent days, however, only 2,295 were traceable based on the data. Authorities could not reach the remaining 2,887 people due to wrong entry of mobile/ contact numbers and addresses. Among the thousands that made their way back into the country, 43 tested positive for the coronavirus. The documents mentioned that those tracked are being screened for the virus. Following the mismanagement, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan directed Pakistanis who recently returned from Saudi Arabia to contact the provincial government. The CM KP requested people to cooperate with the officials to fight against the coronavirus. NEWS DESK

CMYK

Zulfi to take Khawaja Asif to court over Taftan allegations ISLAMABAD APP

Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari on Saturday said he would take legal action against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Khawaja Asif over allegations that he facilitated the return of pilgrims from Taftan before the completion of the quarantine period. “It’s a blatant lie,” he said in an interview with the Voice of America. Zulfi Bukhari said he had nothing to do with the matter of the Pakistani pilgrims, who were placed in the quarantine at the Taftan border. Referring to the repatriation of some 15,000 Pakistani Umrah pilgrims from Saudi Arabia, he said the same policy was adopted in Iran’s case. The Balochistan government had decided to allow entry of some 5,000 Pakistani pilgrims at the Taftan border as they were outstamped by the Iranian authorities. A responsible state could not leave its people abandoned under the open sky, he added. The quarantine facility was arranged for the pilgrims at Taftan to contain the coronavirus spread, he added. The special assistant said there was no comparison between the issue of Pakistani students stranded in China and evacuation of the pilgrims from Iran. The federal government had initiated the process for airlifting those Pakistanis who were stranded at various world airports. “Evacuation of stranded Pakistanis on foreign soil is the top priority of the government,” he added.

Goods transporters demand govt open workshops, hotels LAHORE INP

Goods transporters have demanded the government allow them to open workshops and hotels in certain areas, a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan lifted the ban on vehicles delivering goods across the country. All interprovincial and intercity transport had been suspended in Pakistan to curb the spread of the coronavirus. So far, the virus has infected nearly 1,300 people across the country. The transporters have complained that the prime minister hasn’t given other relaxations needed for smooth operation. We cannot deliver food items and medicines unless labourers are allowed to work and truck bases are reopened, they said. The transporters said labourers were necessary during the transportation for loading and unloading the goods.

Sunday, 29 March, 2020

FiRdous calls FoR cooRdinated media stRateGY ISLAMABAD

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APP

RIME Minister’s Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Saturday called for better coordination and cooperation among the federal and provincial information ministries to improve media strategy in the wake of coronavirus spread. Chairing a video conference attended by the information ministers of all the provinces, including Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, Firdous said the objective behind the conference was to make a coordinated media strategy to sensitize the people about the measures being taken to fight the pandemic. She said for accuracy, the government had decided to make the decisions of the National Coordination Committee public. All the decisions in the NCC meetings were taken unanimously, but unfortunately, a section of the media was giving them a twist, she claimed. The PM’s aide said the federal government has allocated Rs 50 million for highlighting the NCC decisions through

SAYS GOVT WILL SET UP RELIEF FUND FOR MEDIA WORKERS TO CLEAR PENDING DUES

advertisements in both the print and electronic media, and the provinces could also follow suit. She stressed that the provincial governments should review implementation of the decisions, measures and challenges for containing the coronavirus. The special assistant said a What-

sApp group had been created at the ministerial level for the sharing of accurate information among the provinces. There was a need to highlight the number of recovered patients from the coronavirus so that the sense of fear among the people could be removed, she added. Firdous said the protection of media

persons was the topmost priority of the ministry and special protective kits would be provided to those visiting sensitive areas. Three media persons in Punjab, she said, had tested positive for the coronavirus. The Press Information Department (PID) had created a corona journalist app, which would enlist the affected journalists and help them in all possible ways, she added. The PM’s aide said a fake newsbuster website had been developed by the PID so that any baseless and fake news about any province or area could be countered. She said a segment of media workers were facing delays in the payment of their salaries. The issue would be resolved soon through an emergency relief package, she added. She asked the provincial information ministers to take steps for the payment of outstanding dues, if any in their respective provinces, to the media houses. The special aide said in the next video conference of information ministers on Wednesday, journalists associations would be invited to get their input for ensuring protection of the field staff of the media.

Shehbaz blasts govt for poor economic policies PML-N CHIEF URGES SBP TO BRING DOWN INTEREST RATE TO 9 PER CENT SHEHBAZ THANKFUL TO CHINA FOR MEDICAL HELP TO FIGHT OFF CORONA LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) President Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday lashed out at the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) government for its failure to effectively handle the economy. In a statement, Shehbaz said that the poor policies will further increase the financial burden on the masses already in a state of crisis amid the coronavirus outbreak. He pointed out that two separate cuts in the State Bank policy rate a single week showed how “clueless and incompetent” the SBP was. Shehbaz said he had warned the country over the devastating effects of PTI’s economic policies beforehand and now it was important that the interest rate be brought down to at least 9 per cent. “The government’s and State Bank’s

measures did not reap the fruit being speculated by PTI, instead it caused further devastation,” he claimed. The PML-N chief said his team had warned regarding the danger of depending on hot money, which has now added fuel to the fire of the government’s incompetence and failures. He said the government, instead of providing relief to the people is pushing them into an abyss and warned that the economic disaster will devastate the nation more than the pandemic. Shehbaz said the government would need to reconsider and revamp its entire approach. ‘THANKFUL TO CHINA’: Earlier in the day, Shehbaz Sharif expressed gratitude to the Chinese leadership for its help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. In separate letters to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li

Govt likely to earmark Rs270bn in subsidies for FY21 ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

The federal government is likely to earmark Rs270 billion under the head of 'subsidies' for the next fiscal year (FY202021), Pakistan Today has learnt. According to sources, the Ministry of Finance, in its budget strategy paper for the next fiscal year, has proposed to keep Rs250 to Rs270 billion for subsidies in FY21. The figure is slightly less than the amount allocated for the same in the ongoing fiscal; the government had allocated Rs271.5 billion for subsidies in FY20 budget. Sources said due to the rise of coronavirus pandemic in the country, the government would spend most of the amount on pro-poor initiatives. In addition, they added, the government would allocate a major amount to the agriculture sector, keeping in mind the value of farmers in Pakistan's economy. "The government has earmarked Rs15.5 billion for PASSCO, Rs2 billion for wheat operations, Rs5 billion for wheat reserved stock, Rs8 billion for wheat supplied to Gigit-Baltistan and Rs500 million for the reimbursement on account of donation of wheat by the government," said an official privy to this development. Meanwhile, it was learnt that the finance ministry has also proposed giving a major subsidy to the power sector in order to facilitate the consumers. The government had kept Rs191 billion in subsidy for the power sector in the budget FY20. This included Rs162 billion for interdisco tariff differentials, Rs8 billion for tariff differentials for agriculture tube-wells in Balochistan, Rs18 billion to pick Wapda receivables from merged districts of KP, Rs3 billion to Wapda on account of tariff differential for A&JK and Rs59.5 billion for K-Electric. Sources also said that the Ministry of Finance was likely to allocate up to Rs150 billion for support of the merged district of KP.

Keqiang, Shehbaz Sharif wrote that Pakistan and its people and parliament express their gratitude for the resolute support provided by the Chinese government and its people in these testing times. “Pakistan, its people, and parliament express their gratitude for the resolute support provided by China under your dynamic leadership during this coronavirus crisis which is a global issue for all humanity. When I write these lines, I am conveying the heartfelt sentiments of 220 million Pakistanis since we all know how China faced this crisis, combated this effectively and decisively in a timely manner through a ‘people’s war’ under the direction of Communist Party of China with your leadership in the forefront,” wrote Shehbaz Sharif. He said that the Chinese help in Pakistan in these trying times proves both countries are ‘iron brothers’. He also re-

ferred to the help provided by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pakistan through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) since 2013. Shehbaz Sharif also thanked the Chinese president of the preferential treatment to Pakistan in medical assistance provided to Pakistan which, he said, would help save precious lives and turn the tide in the fight against coronavirus pandemic. In his letter addressed to Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, Shehbaz Sharif said the coronavirus crisis erupted all of a sudden, with the whole world taken by surprise. He said that China has been a frontline warrior in war, combating, containing and completing the mission of eradication of coronavirus. “I am well aware of your personal role in this battle as you are heading the working group on combating coronavirus and you personally visited Wuhan within a few weeks of the crisis. When I write these lines, I am conveying the heartfelt sentiments of 220 million Pakistanis,” he added. ‘ He said that Chinese assistance in these trying times is a reaffirmation of our time-tested and strategic partnership.

PBC ‘dismayed’ at plea challenging IHC’s decision to release prisoners ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) on Saturday expressed its ‘dismay’ and ‘concern’ over the filing of a petition at the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) order to release 408 prisoners owing to the coronavirus epidemic. In a press release, the council said that it backed the timely decision by the high court to release 408 prisoners from Adiala jail convicted for minor offences in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The PBC said that it was concerned over the “prompt fixation for hearing [of the petition] before a larger bench of the Supreme Court on Monday, the 30th March 2020.” The petitioner, a Raja Nadeem, had moved the apex court against the IHC’s decision to release the prisoners. The petitioner had contended that the IHC does not have any jurisdiction to exercise any suo moto powers hence the judgment dated March 20, 2020, was illegal and is liable to be set aside on this ground alone. The council said that Pakistan needed “concerted efforts and practical contributions on war footing basis by all concerned, within sphere of their activities, including our courts, to combat the deadly disease”. The PBC further said that Pakistan was one of the few countries in the world which had a large number of undertrial prisoners which led to overcrowding in prisons. Inmates in the United States and other developed countries of the world have tested positive for

the coronavirus. Those who were convicted for petty crimes have been released by authorities for humanitarian reasons. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last week that authorities will release ‘vulnerable’ prisoners in jails. Prison reform advocates say those in jail are at higher risk of catching and passing on Covid-19. A few days earlier, Los Angeles and Cleveland released hundreds of prisoners over fears that the infection will spread across jails. Australian Attorney-General Mark Speakman had said last week that several prisoners could be released owing to the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. He had said that emergency powers could be granted to the corrections minister authority, who will release or parole inmates on a case-to-case basis. Every Australian state and territory has already banned face-to-face jail visits in an effort to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

NEWS

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Hamza seeks bail amid 'alarming' coronavirus situation LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Hamza Shehbaz on Saturday filed a petition with the Lahore High Court (LHC), seeking bail in the wake of the “extraordinary, alarming” coronavirus situation in the country. According to the petition, “the concern about the spread of coronavirus is most relevant to the prisons,” as the confined space in prison makes it “virtually impossible to implement the policy of social distancing”. “The prisoners are vulnerable and exposed to suffer irreparably in case of an outbreak. God forbid a prison outbreak is likely to present potentially deadly risk to its inmates.” The petition also noted that the situation poses a risk to the life of [Hamza Shehbaz], requesting the court to grant him bail. It further said that in the ten months since the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested Hamza, no reference was filed against him by the anti-graft watchdog. The Bureau had arrested Hamza in June last year after the LHC dismissed as withdrawn his bail petitions in two inquiries – assets beyond means and Ramzan Sugar Mills. He, along with his brother Salman Shehbaz, is accused of embezzling Rs200 million from public funds in order to build a bridge benefiting Ramzan Sugar Mills — of which he is a director — in Chiniot. The money, according to NAB, was released by Shehbaz Sharif, then chief minister of Punjab, who is also a suspect in the case. In February this year, an LHC bench had granted him post-arrest bail in the case in question. Hamza is also accused of owning assets beyond means and is being probed by a combined investigation team from NAB. According to the Bureau which quizzed him multiple times before finally arresting him, Hamza was unable to satisfy the investigation team regarding properties owned by him in Pakistan and abroad. Separately, Hamza also faces an inquiry into the Saaf Pani Company case for presiding over some meetings of its board of directors and allegedly issuing orders regarding the award of contracts. The anti-corruption watchdog claims Hamza was not even a member of the board at the time he attended the meetings. According to it, Hamza had also awarded certain contracts despite not having any authority to do so. Saaf Pani is one of the 56 public-sector companies formed by the Shahbaz administration in Punjab, that are being probed by NAB for alleged irregularities, recruitment in violation of procurement rules and merit, nepotism, and non-completion of various projects in time.

abbasi moves iHc for protective bail in Pso md appointment case ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking protective bail in an illegal appointment case against him. Barrister Zafarullah Khan has filed the petition on Abbasi’s behalf on Saturday. It says that an accountability court in Karachi issued non-bailable arrest warrants against the PML-N leader “without recourse to the fundamental rights of notice, hearing [and] due process of law guaranteed to all citizens of Pakistan under the Constitution”. Abbasi, who is currently out on bail in the LNG terminal case, has been accused of hiring people illegally while he was serving as the petroleum minister during PML-N’s tenure. NAB claimed that he illegally appointed Pakistan State Oil’s managing director and deputy managing director.

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Sunday, 29 March, 2020

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KP govt aNNouNces Rs11.4b RelieF PacKage to waRd oFF coRoNaviRus cRisis PESHAWAR

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STAFF REPORT

HE Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government on Saturday approved a Rs11.4 billion stimulus economic package to provide relief to the masses and business community amid the coronavirus crisis. Provincial Information Minister Ajmal

Wazir, while addressing a press conference, said the relief package would benefit 1.9 million deserving families, adding that the business community has also been exempted from taxes worth Rs5 billion. He said the provincial government

has ramped up its testing capacity with 500 new diagnostics kits and it will be further enhanced in the coming days. “We will ensure that testing facility for coronavirus is available across the province.” He said as of today, there are 180 confirmed coronavirus patients and 820 suspected cases in the province. Wazir said 195 people had been tested negative for COVID-19 till yesterday

whereas test results of 345 suspected patients are yet to arrive. He added that the government was making unstinting efforts to provide protective kits to the frontline doctors fighting against the coronavirus.

coronavirus situation in azad Kashmir under control: govt

Ajmal also confirmed that a woman belonging to Lower Dir area died on Friday and her medical report confirmed that she had coronavirus. The deceased recently returned from Umrah, he added. The provincial government is also initiating crackdown against profiteers and hoarders, said the minister, adding that there is no shortage of food items in the province and all authorities concerned

have been directed to ensure smooth supply of essential items. Meanwhile, the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has extended the dates of closure in connection to control the spread of coronavirus, said a notification

of KP Relief Rehabilitation and Settlement Department issued on Saturday. The decision has been taken by the KP Provincial Cabinet in its meeting held the other day. The meeting has approved that all educational institutions (public and private) shall remain closed while all kinds of examinations and assessments in schools shall be postponed till May 31. The closure of institutes shall be treated as advance summer vacation. Non-essential staff within the department shall not attend the office till April 15 and all officials’ gatherings including seminars, sports events, cultural events and entry of visitors to jails stand banned till April 30 to avoid the spread of infection in confined places. The closures of shops extended up to April 7 except the grocery, medicine and essential items shops shall remain open 24/7. All restaurants, eateries, fast food joints shall remain closed till April 10 while home delivery shall be allowed to these establishments as well as pharmacies. Similarly, all tourists’ spots already vacated while aside rivers and other spots stand closed till April 30. However, barbers and beauty parlours would also remain closed till April 7. The closure shall not be applicable to pharmacies, grocery stores, karyana shops, bakeries, atta chakkies, tandoors, milk shops, auto workshops and petrol pumps, chicken and meat shops, fruit and vegetable shops and all kinds of mandis including grain, fruit and vegetables. The agriculture inputs providers such as seed fertilizers and pesticide dealers, all franchises of cellular service providers and all banks shall continue to implement the protocols for their operations. Construction activities, home delivery of medicines and food, money transfer facilities and immediate cargos have also given consent to continue its work under protocols set by KP Relief Department, the notification concluded.

Rawalpindi admin seals three neighbourhoods amid COVID-19 outbreak fears

RAWALPINDI APP

A fire erupted here on Saturday in a multi-storey building at Neelam market, Kashmir Road, Saddar. According to Rescue 1122, the fire occurred due to unknown reasons, however, no casualties or injuries were reported. On information, the fire bridge teams of Rescue 1122 rushed to the spot and extinguished the blaze.

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govt to give special incentives to employees fighting against coronavirus: KP cM PESHAWAR APP

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Mahmood Khan on Saturday announced a relief package worth Rs32 billion for the vulnerable segment of society following the prevailing situation of Coronavirus. He also indicated for giving special incentives to the employees of different departments including health workers, rescue workers, police personnel and others who fight against the corona pandemic on the front-lines. In a statement issued here, the chief minister has said that his government is seriously considering of giving special incentives to such employees as a gesture of encouragement and support adding that the provincial government highly values the selfless services of those employees who are striving hard to save others at the risks of their own lives. Mehmood Khan termed those employees as real heroes in the fight against corona and remarked that the provincial government would recognize their services and all possible support would be extended to them.

600 fake sanitiser bottles seized, culprits held in Peshawar PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT

As many as six hundred bottles of fake hand sanitiser were seized and culprits held here in the provincial capital on Saturday. According to details, district administration, Peshawar Additional Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Shafiq Afridi and Faqirabad SHO Javed Akhtar jointed raided a plaza in Faqirabad area of Peshawar. During the raid, six hundreds bottles of fake sanitisers were seized and some arrests were also made. It is worth mentioning here that Pakistan is currently facing a shortage of face masks and hand sanitiser amid its battle with the coronavirus. The government has repeatedly warned stores and manufacturing companies against hoarding and profiteering of the product.

KP govt cancels holidays of various industries APP

APP

Fire erupts in multi-storey building in Neelam Market

FAJR SUNRISE 4:37

PESHAWAR

ISLAMABAD Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K) Minister for Information and Tourism Raja Mushtaq Minhas Saturday said the AJ&K government was taking safety measures to control the spread of coronavirus as he assured that the situation in the mountainous valley was “under complete control”. Mushtaq, while talking to media, said the government was closely monitoring the situation. “Only two cases were reported in AJ&K and they were being provided with the best medical care,” he said. The minister said all necessary measures were already taken for the safety of citizens. The virus would be eliminated soon with the joint efforts of the government and the public, he added. “People will not be allowed to travel unnecessarily or leave their homes unless absolutely necessary,” he said, adding that the suspension of public transport was also a part of the lockdown. He said the government has put in place extensive restrictions for incoming international traffic to contain the potential spread of the virus. “Under the safety program, all individuals seeking entering into AJ&K would have to furnish their one-month travel history. If the health official detects any sign of illness in the passenger, he will immediately inform the concerned deputy commissioner of the district.” Different isolation units have been opened across AJ&K to treat affectees, he added. He said since the doctors and health workers were at greater risk, therefore, the safety kits are being provided to them for their safety.

PRAyER TimingS

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has exempted food, agriculture, pharmaceutical, sugar, cement and tobacco industries of holidays, said an official handout issued here Saturday. A task force constituted by the Industries Department is authorised to monitor the concerned industries and in case of failure in the adoption of preventive measures against coronavirus, it can take action and shut down work of violators with immediate effect. The decision of the formation of task force was taken in the meeting of the provincial cabinet. The aim of the task force was to identify economic development and public service oriented industries to keep them open during holidays. The task force headed by the KP Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KP-EZDMC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Javed Khattak is comprised of KP CEO BoIT, Director Industries, Small Industries Development Board (SIDB) Managing Director (MD), Economic Revitalization KP and FATA (ERKF) project director (PD) and KP-EZDMC manager estates.

RAWALPINDI STAFF REPORT

The Rawalpindi administration has sealed three areas in the vicinity of Sadiqabad Police Station as a preventive measure to thwart a possible coronavirus outbreak. The decision was taken after emergence of five COVID-19 cases from these neighbourhoods. A large contingent of police, Rangers and Pakistan Army assisted the administration in the process while people were asked to stay at home through the loudspeaker. According to SP Rawal division Mazhar Iqbal, the areas include Dhok Kashmiriyan, Magistrate Colony and Dhok Paracha. Thirty-seven individuals have

also been quarantined after they reportedly came in close contact with the coronavirus patients, he said. SP Iqbal further added that with the help of law enforcement agencies, the areas have been completely sealed. Security personnel are guarding the area to prevent mobility of people, he said, adding that grocery stores are however allowed to operate in the area. “The measure has been taken to slow down the pace of the spread of coronavirus in the area, this would also ensure that people would stay inside their homes and avoid contracting the contagious disease,” SP Iqbal said. The Rawalpindi Waste Management Company, along with the members of Rescue 1122, also conducted a disinfection campaign and sprayed

the area with chlorinated water. Parvez Paracha, a local resident, said that there is a shortage of supplies at grocery shops. “On the other hand, the lockdown is as strict as curfew… we are limited to our homes and are not even allowed to visit the doctors,” he said.Earlier in the day, the Islamabad administration sealed Ramsha Colony in Sector H-9 and Chak Shahzad and some streets of Sector G-13 after two people were found coronavirus positive in these areas. The nationwide tally of COVID19 cases has soared pass 1,400, with Punjab having the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases at 496, Sindh 467, K-P 180, Balochistan 133, Gilgit-Baltistan 111, Islamabad 39 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir with two.

sunday, 29 March, 2020

‘UnderstAnding sArs-CoV-2 essentiAl for effeCtiVe treAtment in PAKistAn’ DR ATTAUR RAHMAN SAYS PAKISTAN IS WORKING CLOSELY WITH CHINA TO ENHANCE ITS RESPONSE AGAINST CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC LaHore

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JAWAD ZULFIQAR

S coronavirus cases continue to increase in Pakistan, scientists are looking into the genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2 to understand how it affects the local population to help the health authorities devise an effective treatment strategy. Speaking to Pakistan Today, Prime Minister’s Task Force on Science and Technology Chairman Dr Attaur Rahman said that due to genetic differences between populations across the world, it is

important to understand how the virus has mutated in Pakistan before a comprehensive treatment strategy can be devised. “Scientists at Jamilur Rahman Centre for Genome Research are looking into the virus strain which is infecting the local population and we should have the results within 10 days,” he said. Meanwhile, he said, clinical trials of some drugs have also been started to test their efficiency in treating COVID-19 patients in the country. “Chloroquine is said to be effective against the virus but we need more localised data to determine its effectiveness in Pakistan,” he added.

Talking about the other steps being taken by the authorities to combat the pandemic, he said that in a bid to meet the emergency need for medical equipment, developers were asked to submit prototypes for indigenously developed ventilators. “The Pakistan Engineering Council is currently evaluating those prototypes and whichever prototype is approved by all relevant departments will be put into mass production,” he added. When asked about the country’s coronavirus testing capacity, he said that at the moment, a few thousand suspected cases can be tested every day, but the authorities have sought China’s

help in this regard. “They are facilitating us with testing kits and medical equipment besides sharing their experience with us to help us defeat this pandemic,” he added. Responding to a question about Pakistan’s research infrastructure, Dr Rahman, who is also the former chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the incumbent vice chairman of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Knowledge Economy, said that government is working in close coordination with the international community to improve the country’s research infrastructure. “The government has allocated Rs130 billion for a number of initiatives, including the establishment of two state-of-theart applied sciences universities and a science and technology park, which will help in bridging the gap between research and industry,” he said.

news

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Pharma Bureau says distributors are not being allowed to move freely despite exemption from lockdowns iSLamaBad STAFF REPORT

Chinese expert urges Pakistan to block population flow to control Covid-19 iSLamaBad TLTP

A renowned Chinese scholar has suggested that the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic could be effectively slowed down in Pakistan by blocking the flow of population and keeping everyone home as much as possible. “By blocking the flow of population and keeping everyone at home as much as possible, we can effectively slow down the spread of the virus,” Cheng Xizhong, special commentator of China Economic Net and visiting professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law said in his article. “What is the current threat of COVID19 for Pakistan? This question reminds me of a Chinese idiom ” the city is besieged by enemy troops”. On one hand, the global epidemic is becoming more and more serious, and on the other hand, neighboring Iran in the west is now a disaster area. I feel that Pakistan is surrounded by the epidemic and is facing a very serious situa-

tion,” he opined. On March 12, there were 1032 confirmed cases in the United States. After half a month on March 27, the number of confirmed cases has gone up sharply to over 100,000, which has made the United States the most seriously affected country in the world. Now, there are about 1,200 confirmed cases in Pakistan. It’s hard to say what will happen if the most stringent prevention and control measures are not taken immediately. The epidemic in China has now been effectively controlled. At that time, the epidemic was mainly in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, and it was not very serious in the rest of China. But in Pakistan, the epidemic has spread all over the country. It is the most serious in Sindh and Punjab provinces and there are also many confirmed cases in Balochistan, KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad. Due to the increasing severity of the epidemic, the Pakistani government has al-

Army sets up 182 quarantine facilities across Pakistan Continued From Page 01 Over 4,000 suspected cases have been tracked and traced and are being isolated to contain the spread of COVID-19, it added. According to the statement, in Punjab, army troops have been deployed in 34 districts of the province. “Joint check posts established on entry and exit points, patrolling with police for enforcement to measures taken by the provincial government. Troops assisting civil administration in managing DG Khan, Multan, Faisalabad, and Lahore Expo Centre quarantine and isolation facilities. Disinfection campaign is underway of various public places including airports, train platforms, and other such public places. “ In Sindh, troops have been deployed in 29 districts of Sindh. Pakistan Rangers Sindh along with Police has been deployed at all entry and exit points. “Troops assisting civil administration for management of quarantine facilities at Sukkur & Karachi Expo Centre,” it added.

6 killed as roofs collapse in KP PeSHaWar STAFF REPORT

Six people were killed in two separate incidents in which the roofs of houses collapsed Saturday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In one incident in a Malakand suburb, a woman and her three children were killed. The roof’s structure had weakened after the rain. Two people died in Lower Dir after their house’s roof collapsed. The place was owned by a landlord.

ready taken some control measures. On March 23, after consultation with the provincial governments, the federal government of Pakistan began to deploy troops throughout the country to block major cities; on March 24, Pakistan Civil Aviation Administration announced that from March 26 to April 2, flight of all types of aircraft in the country would be suspended; in the capital Islamabad, all public transport services have been stopped, and all shops except large department stores and drugstores have been closed. Stressing for more preventive measures to control rapid spread of the epidemic, he said, the spread ability of COVID-19 is very strong, and the spread speed is very fast. Pakistan is one of the most populous countries in the world, with a population of more than 200 million, 23 million in Karachi and 10 million in Lahore. The population density of Pakistan is higher than that of China. In China, there are 145 people per square kilometer and in Pakistan, there 256 people per

PPA fears poultry sector crisis amid major dip in demand iSLamaBad STAFF REPORT

Pakistan Poultry Association Spokesman Khalil Sattar has expressed serious concerns over an imminent possible cut in the supply of chicken and eggs in the coming months due to extremely low demand amid countrywide lockdowns. "The consumption has plummeted and prices have crashed, as such, no boiler farmer is prepared to place day-

old chicks at their farms, even for free, as a result of which hatcheries have stopped setting eggs for chick production. Likewise, egg layers have also been culled; showing signs of short supply of eggs. Until last week, day-old chicks were being sold at Rs2-3/chick against production cost of Rs38-40/chick." He said that broiler breeders, which were consuming feed, have been sold at throwaway prices for meat. This will definitely result in short supply in the coming months. On resumption of busi-

square kilometer. “Therefore, if we do not take the most strict and most effective prevention and control measures immediately, the consequences will be unimaginable,” he added. Cheng Xizhong believed that the most effective way to prevent and control the epidemic is to block the flow of population. Under the command of the central government, the Chinese people all consciously stayed at home in consideration of national interests. Pakistan has a relatively high proportion of poor people who depend on their daily income to support their families. If the cities are closed, they will lose their poor daily income and cannot continue to support their families. The relationship between economy and sealing off the cities from all outside contact is dialectical. In the short term, the closure of the cities certainly affects the economy and everyone’s life, but if the cities are not closed, leading to a largescale outbreak of the epidemic, the whole economy will be fatally hit for decades. nesses as usual and opening of schools, hotels, restaurants and wedding halls, the demand is going to spurt and due to extreme low availability of chicken, prices will shoot up. "If the government intervenes by way of price controls, the farmers who have lost during this period will suffer a much greater loss and discouragement for resuming production. Sale of generic agriculture and livestock produce prices fluctuate in a free economy of demand and supply interaction. In the current environment, we do not expect the government to reopen marriage halls, hotels, restaurants, etc. as we fully understand that life of citizens is more important but it is our responsibility to inform the government of what is likely to be in the prospect."

Four doctors, medical staff at top Karachi hospitals infected with COVID-19 neWS deSK Four doctors and related staff at the top hospitals of Karachi, including the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) and the Liaquat National Hospital (LNH), have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a media report. Three employees of the AKUH, including a doctor, a radiologist, and a staff member, have contracted the coronavirus, compelling the hospital administration to suspend public testing of the virus. The hospital is now screening and testing AKUH doctors, paramedics, and staff for the virus. Similarly, a doctor working at the Radiology Department of LNH, who recently returned from a religious gathering in Raiwind, has also been tested positive for the virus, and put in isola-

tion at his home, the hospital administration said. “Three of our staff members, including a surgeon, a radiologist, and another staff member, have contracted COVID-19. They acquired the virus from ordinary patients who were not showing symptoms of the infectious disease,” an official of the AKUH told the media outlet. "Following the confirmation of the coronavirus infection among staff, especially those not dealing with suspected and confirmed virus cases, the hospital has suspended the screening and testing of COVID-19 at its main campus, and is focusing at testing the AKUH staff," the official said. “It is the community transmission of COVID-19 that resulted in infecting some of our staff members. Now an ex-

tensive screening of employees is underway, and dozens of AKUH staff have been put in isolation to contain the spread of the disease,” the official added. According to the official, every patient coming to the hospital is now being treated under the World Health Organization (WHO) and Center for Disease Control (CDC) protocols with regards to an epidemic. "Even doctors have been directed to take precautionary measures," he noted. The Aga Khan University Hospital was the first private sector healthcare facility in Sindh that started screening and testing for the coronavirus back in February 2020 while first COVID-19 patient, a 22-year-old man who had returned from Iran, was also tested positive and treated here.

The Pharma Bureau has requested the government to support uninterrupted movement of medicines as well as pharma employees to ensure smooth manufacturing and supply of medicines. "The spread of coronavirus has disrupted the norms of daily life significantly. The sad part is that among other matters, it has also impacted the supply of medicines, which is the most essentially needed commodity now. It has been learnt that many pharmaceutical companies are finding it difficult to distribute their medicines across Pakistan as the transporters are not allowed to move freely despite various advisories by relevant authorities exempting medicines from the restrictions of lockdowns," the Pharma Bureau spokesperson said. He said the employees of pharma companies were being stopped on their way to offices, and this may impact the production and supply of medicines. The spokesperson said there was a need to take this matter seriously and a very clear directive should be issued to all concerned agencies to allow the drug transporters to operate freely. “Otherwise, non-availability of medicines could convert into a very serious problem under the current circumstances,” he warned.

rana sanaullah skips hearing amid virus threat LaHore STAFF REPORT

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah Khan skipped hearing in a case pertaining to drug smuggling on Saturday, citing prevailing coronavirus situation in the country. In the previous hearing, anti-narcotics judge Shakir Hassan had directed Sanaullah to appear before the court on Mar 28 (today) for the indictment in the drug case. However, the former minister, through his counsel, submitted a plea, seeking exemption from appearance in the wake of the pandemic. Subsequently, the plea was accepted by the judge and the lawyers were asked to appear before the court again on April 25 for the further proceedings of the case. In the previous hearing, the court had deferred the indictment of Rana Sanaullah in the case till today. Sanaullah was arrested in July last year from the Islamabad-Lahore Motorway (M-2) by the Lahore team of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), while he was traveling from Faisalabad to Lahore. At the time, the ANF had not officially specified the charges on which Sanaullah has been picked up, saying drugs were recovered from Sanaullah’s car. Govt urged to ensure smooth supply of medicines.

Sunday, 29 March, 2020

06 COMMENT

A leadership crisis

PTI and Coronavirus Indecisiveness can be dangerous

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EAliNg with the coronavirus and its aftereffects is going to be a herculean task. What is further adding to the difficulties is the federal government’s reluctance to take timely decisions on crucial matters. During the National Coordination Committee (NCC) meeting on Friday the PM again reiterated his reservations about the lockdown which is already being observed in three provinces. health SAPM Dr Zafar Mirza has shown reluctance to accept eminent haematologist Dr Tahir Shamsi’s proposal to urgently make preparations 1for passive immunization before the country is unable to afford more ventilators. With the NCC, chaired by Prime Minister imran Khan unwilling to issue instructions to stop religious gatherings, tens of thousands of worshippers stood shoulder to shoulder in mosques on Friday disrupting the efforts to stop the virus from spreading further. The major decisions taken at the NCC moot on Friday revolved around helping those who will have to face severe food deprivation in case of a full scale national lockdown. With industries closed, construction coming to a halt, hotels and shopping malls shuttered and transport mostly suspended, the private sector work force is largely out of a job. Similarly, rickshaw and taxi drivers, domestic labour, street vendors and those attached to the gig economy are left with no source of income. With no savings at their disposal, hundreds of thousands would risk starvation. What is needed is to supply dry rations in rural areas and open takeaway soup kitchens in poor urban localities. Mr Khan has come up with the idea of raising a Coronavirus Tiger Force to distribute food. inspiring youth to defy risks and rise to the occasion by helping the needy is creditable provided the intention is not to revive the PTi’s defunct Tiger Force. The NCC moot decided to use the funds at the disposal of the Ehsaas programme to help the needy keep the wolf from the door. it also decided to issue an appeal for donations to all Pakistanis living in the country as swell as the expatriates. There is also a need to divert the funds collected for dams to help the jobless poor. What is required most is timely and decisive action. The country’s leadership cannot afford hamlet-like vacillation.

Half measures will not do

aRif Nizami

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true leader is one who knows the way, shows the way, and goes the way.” i came across this quote from John C Maxwell, a distinguished best-selling writer in an article praising New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s staller performance in the face of the crisis faced by the state as a result of corona pandemic. More than 45,000 residents of the state of New York are affected by the pandemic. According to a CNN correspondent, respected commentators are noting the contrast between Trump’s lengthy and often rambling appearances at his daily briefings and Cuomo’s straight-talking approach. The same parallel can be drawn with the one step forward two steps back mushy approach adopted by our federal government in the face of an existential crisis facing the nation. in sharp contrast, the chief minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah has won kudos for taking decisive and focused action in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. The proactive approach adopted by Shah shines even more in comparison to the hitherto lacklustre performance of the prime minister and his handpicked chief minister of Punjab Usman Buzdar. it was perhaps inevitable, given Punjab’s higher population and response to the pandemic of its administration, that confirmed cases there have surpassed that of Sindh. The ruling PTi’s (Pakistan Tehreek e insaf) tentative approach towards a national lockdown to stem the swift spread of the virus has come under sharp criticism. The prime minister claims that he is against a total lockdown as it would adversely affect the 25 percent poor of the country who would be rendered jobless and without food. it seems Khan’s approach towards tackling COViD 19 pandemic-despite the gravity of the crisis- is more ego driven rather than based on stark ground realities. The Sindh chief minister took the lead by taking a timely decision for a province-wise lockdown, which has been further strengthened since. Punjab and other provinces belatedly did the same. But Khan refuses to admit that it is a lockdown. Some informed sources claim, it was the security establishment that persuaded him to go ahead with the lockdown. As it is, most of the daily wagers and poorer sections of the society have been rendered jobless. That is why the federal government and the provincial governments are struggling to provide them with a

Progress in Afghanistan Political uncertainty, terrorism and coronavirus

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S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo termed his daylong visit to Afghanistan earlier this week as “frustrating” after being unable to convince President ghani and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah to bury the hatchet and form a government, forcing the US to cut $1 billion in aid to the country. A positive outcome from the visit was crucial so that the next phase of the USTaliban peace deal, which involves negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban, to agree on the modalities of ensuring lasting peace after a US exit, could begin. Fortunately, there has been a breakthrough in that pursuit as the ghani-led government has formed a 21member team comprising of politicians, former officials and members of the civil society that includes five women as well. There are reports that Abdullah Abdullah, after some talks with ghani’s people, will be endorsing the delegation, thus providing much-needed legitimacy to the negotiating team. The political uncertainty caused by last year’s disputed elections that saw both ghani and Abdullah Abdullah forming parallel governments is a real danger to the success of the Afghan peace deal. Unfortunately, the Taliban have rejected the Afghan government’s team, deeming it not representative of “all Afghan factions”. While this is a setback to the peace process, there is a high likelihood that the US will intervene to remove this roadblock. As it is, the Taliban, who had always rejected the Afghan government for being ‘a collection of US agents’ are now finally ready to speak to it so long as certain preconditions are met. But this progress faces some very real and dangerous threats. Since a Taliban ceasefire, other groups have stepped up their terrorist activities, especially the islamic State that now has a foothold in Afghanistan. Just days ago, the militant outfit claimed responsibility for attacking a Sikh gurdwara in Kabul that left 25 people dead as terrorists open fired on over 200 worshippers inside the complex. That one of the attackers was allegedly an indian national from Kerala means that the regional pool of recruits for iS is still very fertile. For this, Afghanistan’s security and intelligence has to become more vigilant and effective. Another threat is the Coronavirus pandemic that has brought the world to a standstill. Although Afghanistan only has 100 reported cases so far, the negotiations might get compromised amid travel restrictions and social distancing measures. One hopes the talks can be arranged in a manner that is safe for all participants.

High morale Emergancy measures show what should be done routinely

Rabia ahmed

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igh morale among the people of a country leads to hope and confidence and provides citizens with an incentive to work towards the future. governments therefore have a responsibility to maintain morale among the people they govern, but this morale-boosting must be based on truth, something real to be hopeful about. Word-mongering, empty words without substance, is nothing but the worst kind of electioneering. What can be done to make a real difference in an emergency such as in these current virus-ridden times? it’s a tough situation. Whatever course of action is decided upon is condemned by someone or the other. The government must be strong enough to withstand that opposition if it genuinely believes in the measures settles upon. it must also institute such measures that are possible in normal times. Such as measures to maintain hygiene. Rumour is strong that streets are to be sanitized

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Umar Aziz

Asher John

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

The prime minister has proffered a lame excuse safety net from their meagre resources. The Sindh government is co-opting various NgOs for this serious lapse in judgement, blandly saying (non-government organizations) to create a supply that they were Pakistanis that we had to take back. chain to provide for the poorer and the needy. The Part of the reason for their premature releases was the prime minister owing to an inbuilt scepticism about fact that setting up a proper quarantine facility was the role of NgOs has announced creation of a special beyond the capacity and capabilities of the Balochistan government. youth force ‘Corona Relief Tigers’, for this purpose. The islamabad high Court has been moved to had a complete lockdown been such a bad idea, 1.3 billion people of india would not have been ren- form an independent commission to probe the spread dered under it by one stroke of pen by prime minister of coronavirus in the country. The petition filed on Narendera Modi. incidentally, an estimated 276 mil- behalf of the civil society has issued notices to the lion indians are under the poverty line earning less prime minister’s principal secretary Azam Khan and than 1.25 dollars a day. This is more than the entire special assistant Zulfi Bukhari. Mr Bukhari’s name has cropped up several population of Pakistan. By most estimates the worst is yet to come. For times in the controversy surrounding the release of example, in Britain prime minister Boris Johnson and infected pilgrims from Taftan despite his strong deat least one of his cabinet colleagues have already nials. The gentleman is reputedly very close to the been infected. According to latest figures the number prime minister. The matter should be thoroughly probed. The of Britons infected doubles every third or fourth day. government can hardly afford hence, in the case of Paksuch scandals at a juncture when istan, it is not a question of if but all its energies should be focused when. And judging in the backupon meeting the mega threat of drop of our woefully inadequate resources it’s an Armageddon It seems Khan’s approach COViD 19. The last straw is the Punjab waiting to happen. towards tackling COVID 19 government allowing the TabThe question of banning lighi Jamaat congregation to take prayer congregations in pandemic-despite the place at Raiwind. The Punjab mosques is another case in government in its signature hampoint. here also the federal govgravity of the crisis- is handed style only shut the stable ernment and the PTi led governmore ego driven rather doors after the horse had bolted. ments failed to take decisive and The government has susbold decisions in real time. than based on stark pended the congregation post in the wake of a fatwa isfacto. But the damage has alsued by islam’s premier seat of ground realities. ready been done. Several villearning, Al Azhar, permitting lages especially in KP (Khyber suspension of congregational Pakhtunkhwa) and in the subprayers to contain spread of the urbs of islamabad have been redisease, the government was simply unable to take a clear-cut decision. As a result portedly infected by the Tablighis. The federal minister for science and technology of half-baked delayed measures, the suspension was only partially implemented. here too, Sindh govern- Fawad Chaudhry has only partly spoken the truth by ment took the lead, not waiting for any fatwa and im- claiming that coronavirus has spread owing to ignorance of the conservative religious class. posing a ban well in time to reap its full benefit. it would have spread in any case. But not at such This is not good enough for a responsible state. There is a perennial propensity to be led by various a fast rate. The minister who distinguishes himself in speaking home truths contrary to the party line, pressure groups rather than to lead. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia earlier sus- should have acknowledged his own government’s inpended Umrah. Now it has intimated islamabad about competence in the matter. Khan stubbornly refuses to play ball with the oppossible suspension of hajj. The last time it was canposition even in a time of crisis. he should take a leaf celled was around three centuries ago. Another case of the government’s gross mishan- out of the book of the reviled Jewish state. The israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu dling is the Taftan border with iran. An initial surge of the majority of those infected can be traced to the has agreed to form a unity government with his arch rival and nemesis Benny gantz after being urged to pilgrims returning from iran. Owing to squalid conditions at the so-called quar- put politics aside to fight the coronavirus pandemic. antine camp at Taftan, the infection spread like wild incidentally, gantz had pledged never to sit in a govfire. When the Sindh government rechecked those ernment headed by Netanyahu who faces criminal destined towards the province, released from quaran- charges for corruption. tine, most of them were infected. The pilgrims from Arif Nizami is Editor, Pakistan Today. He can be iran also spread out in other parts of the country. Procontacted at arifn51@hotmail.com. liferating the virus in the process.

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starting the next day or so. At the time of writing this column this is hearsay. if it is true, that is one good thing that is being done. Although why something short of ‘sanitising’ cannot be done routinely is difficult to understand. it is all about the will to improve things, making a careful plan and sticking to it. As it is, if it is done just the once, it takes little time for the dirt to accumulate once again. A big factor in the spread of infection in a country like Pakistan are houseflies. Apparently these can carry infection on their legs, and flies are a given in the presence of piles of garbage. (According to the WhO mosquitoes cannot transmit COViD-19). Effective measures for waste management and cleaning are a must in every way, at any time. The other measure that is possible to take in advance is to stockpile equipment that comes in useful in the event of an emergency such as these pandemics. After all in our own lifetime the COViD-19 pandemic is just one of several such pandemics. There ought at least to be a sufficient quantity of masks and gloves in stock, and expensive as they are, as many ventilators as possible. Every hospital needs a protocol, similar to that (which should be) in place in case of fire. Events such as the current pandemic require strict isolation. Detailed plans for this isolation are urgently required, plans involving points where the patients will enter from, where they will be directed to and treated, how they will leave, as well as effective plans for disposal of infected substances. it is NOT possible to determine these at the last minute. The hardest hit at times like these are the poor, as they are almost on every occasion. Funds must be set aside for such contingencies along with a detailed plan for distribution. One of the major factors that has surfaced in this, as in many other event, is the role played by

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the clergy. it is the government that is the elected representative of the country. The clergy– and other organisations– are not. As such it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that the electorate is as safe from harm as possible. Otherwise, as Muhammad Malik so pertinently enquired, who is responsible in the case of disaster, and the PM accepted that he, as the Prime Minister was. That dialogue incidentally resulted in much furor which ended up in Malik apologizing for some reason. Perhaps he was made to. Anyway. When events such as the current pandemic take place, isolation is crucially important as has been pointed out. infection spreads in crowds. As such, all places where crowds accumulate must be temporary shut-down. Therefore schools, cinemas, bazaars, malls, restaurants, and as many offices as possible, these have been shut down. Mosques must be included in this list of places to be shut down. This is up to the government to decide, not the clerics. As it happened this time, the President asked for a fatwa from Al-Azhar, but when it came back saying that yes, mosques should be shut down, the Pakistani clerics did not accept it. it puts one in mind of US President Donald Trump who was intent on not shutting down contact with the UK because that is where his businesses are located. in Dubai, congregational prayers have been suspended for the period of one month, and the later lines of the azzan there have been amended to say ‘“Al Salat Fi Buyootikum,” which means ‘pray at home’ instead of “Hayya Alasalah” which means ‘come to prayer.’ These decisions are for the people’s representatives to make. Clerics are neither qualified nor elected to represent the people. A government that cannot stand up to them, not once but every time, is not strong enough, and whatever such a government says, is not likely to raise morale in any segment of society. A genuinely strong government on the other hand is capable of raising morale. There is the added advantage of such a government being good for the country. Rabia Ahmed is a freelance columnist. Read more by her at http://rabia-ahmed.blogspot.com/

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Sunday, 29 March, 2020

COMMENT 07 Editor’s mail Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

Effects of media

Coming together Speak a word of compassion, extend a hand to help

Candid Corner Raoof Hasan “Ego is just like dust in the eyes. Without clearing the dust, we can’t see anything clearly. So, clear the ego and see the world.” —Anonymous

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he world is in a war-like mould to fight the scourge of COVID-19– and rightly so because this is the only way the pandemic can be combated and defeated. In other countries of the world, all stakeholders appear on the same page fighting a battle of survival, be they from the political, economic, intellectual, media, or any other realm of life. They are all part of a singular national policy to speak with one voice and make their respective contribution to the success of the effort. Not so in this country where there are as many voices as the number of stakeholders. All of them have their own caustic recipes for fighting the scourge and all of them are doing their utmost to create dissonance to promote their petty personalised agendas. In addition to the rejected political leaderships, there is one community that stands out in a deliberate effort to dampen the national resolve to act in unison. This was so evident from the conduct of some senior representatives of the media who met the Prime Minister a few days ago in Islamabad. Throughout their interaction, they came across as a bunch of garbage-stuffed and hubrisinfected people perpetuating a pre-orchestrated narrative: how to make the Prime Minister look bad. They came across as crass, conceited and excessively bloated. It is patently clear that their game is much bigger than is generally perceived. The pound of flesh these charlatans are seeking is not just a pound of flesh. It is the person of the Prime Minister. They wouldn’t be shooed away with a bone, and what they want is what the Prime Minister wouldn’t give. The meeting had been called to brief the media on the corona virus crisis and the steps that the federal government was taking to fight the scourge. Instead of discussing the issue at hand, they delved into matters which fade into insignificance when measured against the grave danger that the pandemic poses. They tried their utmost to turn the briefing into a contentious political debate about issues which were irrelevant for the occasion, for the day. They were delusional, lacking in basic cour-

tesies which one is obligated to extend to the cial distancing as an essential step to escape the Chief executive of the country. They spoke like scourge?. The Federal and Sindh governments they were the patriarchs disdainfully surveying have gone half way in doing it without closing their audience. Venom was oozing out of every down the mosques. It may not be the best thing word they spoke, every gesture they made, every to do, but it is better than nothing at all. It is the insinuation they cast. What a horrible spectacle duty of the government to break these obscuof delusional sufferance they enacted, so petu- rantist shackles and impose an immediate ban on all religious gatherings, including those inlantly, so pathetically. Praise must go out to the Prime Minister for side the mosques. The government is the cusdemonstrating a high level of patience and re- todian of the safety and security of the people solve in addressing the questions with clarity and, in case any disaster occurs because of this and precision. he came across as a model of avoidable lapse, it’ll not only have to accept its equanimity against the barrage of feuding un- responsibility, it’ll end up paying a huge politleashed by a coterie of uncouth individuals mas- ical price as well. The other key issue is providing support and querading as journalists. In fact, his composure exposed the nefarious designs of this clique of financial succour to those who suffer directly bedrumbeaters which they were orchestrating on cause of the conditions of a lockdown. They are behalf of their lords and masters. I am reminded the labourers and daily wagers. The support of a saying by Sunday Adelaja which aptly sums package announced by the government is laudup their preoccupation: “When work is viewed able, but a lot more needs to be done to mitigate only as a source of economic gain, the centrality the sufferings of a large segment of our population who survive below the of work becomes self-inpoverty line. dulgence, selfishness and In such trying circumegocentrism”. What peostances, it is not the governple saw that day was a reThis was so evident from ment alone which should play of such a drama! shoulder the responsibility. even more worrisome is the fact that, in this the conduct of some senior People who have the resources to extend support petty quarrelsomeness, we representatives of the should do so generously in forget the real danger that coordination with institulooms ever so close. With media who met the Prime tions, of the state or otherthe number of infected cases increasing throughMinister a few days ago in wise, who have the necessary information, netout the country, the situation is becoming murkier Islamabad. Throughout their work and wherewithal to disburse help among the with the passage of time. interaction, they came deserving communities. It is What makes it more time to introspect, evaluate threatening is the absence across as a bunch of our responsibilities in such of some steps which the government should have garbage-stuffed and hubris- situations, and enquire whether we are doing taken at the very begininfected people enough to fulfil these. In ning─ imposing restrictimes of trial, nations come tions on religious perpetuating a pretogether as one unit. What gatherings and offering have at hand is an exisprayers in the mosques orchestrated narrative: how we tential threat of mammoth which could enhance the prospect of contraction to make the Prime Minister proportions. All over the world, peoand spread of the virus. The ongoing narrative look bad. They came across ple with resources are announcing large donations to which is doing rounds is as crass, conceited and the government to be spent an extremely regressive for the welfare of the poor reflection of cave-time excessively bloated and the needy. There has bigotry. Understandably, been no such announcement some religious scholars in Pakistan. Our beneficiary have ventured forth sayelite have probably taken off ing that the virus would be on extended medical leave, harmless within the precincts of the mosques and other worshipping somewhere in the world where they have places and, therefore, religious congregations stacked up their capital. This is plain, downright should continue unabated. This is sheer mad- disgusting. This is the time to be here, to be with ness. Such gatherings have been prohibited the government and the people, to become part throughout the world across countries which are of the effort to help the marginalised communiconsidered the most conservative, including ties out of a challenging situation. Those who stay away in these circumstances are the people Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. even the Ka’aba and Masjid-e-Nabvi are who are here only to ravage this country and declosed. There is speculation that the haj may camp with their illicit billions. They don’t really not be held this year. What is stopping us from belong here. It is time to come together. Let’s all speak a taking a step which is central to securing people from exposure to possible infection? have word of compassion and extend a hand to help. we become a hapless hostage in the hands of Raoof Hasan is a political and security this clan of religious morons? They can’t be allowed to sit as judges proclaiming that strategist, and heads the Regional Peace Institute mosques are safe from the virus and people – an Islamabad-based think tank. He can be should congregate as they would under normal reached at: raoofhasan@hotmail.com; Twitter: times while the rest of the world advocates so- @RaoofHasan

ACCOrDING to world health organization in the year of 2020, approximately 1.5million people will commit suicide. Suicide and social media have become relatively new phenomenon, it is influencing suicide-related behavior. Social media is changing human behavior especially affecting teenagers. Suicide has been influenced by media .now a day’s peoples are mostly busy in their online world which cause mental and emotional issues leading them to depression .social media is promoting different kinds of pro-suicidal sites, message boards, chat rooms and forums. our youth has completely lose their self control they have become poppet of social media their minds are under control of media influencers their thinking power has finished, first media was in our control but now we are controlled by media .children’s are spending their time on social media and have no time for their family which is really serious issue. They feel happy in the fake world of the internet and cut off from the real life they start living in the world of fantasy which later on result mental health issues. Parents should look after their children, it’s their responsibility to check their children’s activities on social media. They should be aware of everything about their children. They should tell their children that life is not a bed of roses, and take them out from the world of fantasy named as social media. I also request that the authorities should ban such sites which affect our behavior, mental health and ethics, otherwise the result will be really worse for our future. SHAHZADI HUSSAIN Karachi

Fake news on social media I would like to draw your attention towards the fake news on social media. As you can see, it has become a trend nowadays that people on social media tell other fake news on anything to fool others. For example, somebody will say that there were a lot of people at the market or will say that the stores were closed or will say that nobody came to that meeting or the teacher has got sick and cannot conduct a class. Then the next day the other finds out that what was told on social media, it didn’t actually happen at all or somebody tells you that nothing like that happened. The fact is that some people spread fake news for fun to fool others without any reason, this also misguides people. This is nothing more than playing with someone’s life who has no business with you. Social media did help bring people together but also gave rise to many evils that also includes spreading fake news to the people. This trend will derail the young ones from spending their precious time doing something meaningful. ZUHAIb SHAH Karachi

Future of democracy in Pakistan PAKISTAN has seen many ups and downs when it comes to continuing of democratic set-up in country. This is mainly due to Civil-Military tussle and power politics between different political parties. equilibrium of Civil-Military relations have always been subject of discussion in Pakistan.In other countries domain of military usually remains with respect to security of borders but in Pakistan military is involved in every aspect of life. This is mainly due to historic and geographic compulsions. historically, just after independence First PM of Pakistan was killed by an Afghan mercenary which initiated a phase where political factions started a power struggle against each other that created power vaccuam in the country this power vaccuam was filled by military, had military hadn’t fill it ,external forces would have grasp the opportunity that would have left Pakistan as a client state. Geographically, Pakistan is situated at the centre of convergence of interests of realpolitiks.In terms of geoeconomics, geopolitics and geostrategic importance country’s significance is undeniable. More than that it’s eastern neighbor India which is five times bigger than Pakistan makes the situation even worse, that compels the military to interfere in multiple civil domains, due to this reason Pakistan has seen four martial laws in different occasions of its history. These martial laws didn’t give space to democracy to even creep for almost 35 years which is more than half of its history, but now ball seems to spin as we have seen last two governments have completed their tenure and handed over power to third democratic successor. Although democratic set-up is fragile but given constant struggle by democratic powers and seeing will of the people in favour of democracy by participating in electoral process in such a huge numbers makes it clear that country demands democracy. But for strong democratic set-up Pakistan needs strong democratic institutions which works under guidelines set by the constitution of the Pakistan, any institution which breaches constitution would be a threat to future of democracy in Pakistan therefore country needs to make its institutions transparent and ensure meritocracy which will help it to establish rule of law and finally upholding of constitution. For e.g recent restrictions on media and social media demonstrated we are moving opposite to any such process which helps us to strengthen democracy of Pakistan instead it will weaken it because access to information is democratic, fundamental and constitutional right of the people. Secondly, political instability due to inconsistent accountability processes has turned masses against democracy furthermore, anti-people economic policy has fuelled anger of people even more. Such political instability and economic outlook certainly effects National security of the country which is compelling non democratic forces to interfere in civil domains like the economy to ensure national security of the country. For future of democracy in Pakistan, accountability across the board is need of the hour ,which does not apartheid in any class or creed,then political leaders will have to shed their political rivalries and will have to show some patience by not creating obstacles for functioning of government, last but not least media has played vital role in face of authoritarianism any steps against media would dent this struggle for future of democracy in Pakistan. Withdrawal of recent law apropos to curbs on social media can be a first step towards struggle for democracy in Pakistan. ADNAN SHAH Khairpur

Sunday, 29 March, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

How Middle east autHors Have written about disease

mIDDle eaSt eye

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THE CURRENT OUTBREAK OF COVID-19, A CORONAVIRUS, HAS REAWAKENED MEMORIES OF PREVIOUS PANDEMICS

Mustafa abu snEinEh

LAGUE, pandemic and pestilence have long been themes for writers, historians and poets, from Giovanni Boccaccio’s medieval The Decameron and Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year to, more recently, Blindness by Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago. Nowhere is this more true than the Middle East and North Africa, which has a centuries-old tradition of writing about illness and medicine. One of the most famous works is The Plague, by French-Algerian writer Albert Camus. Published in 1947, it is set in the Algerian city of Oran and based on the cholera epidemic which engulfed the city in 1849 (Camus chose to set his novel in the modern age). Many have also interpreted the story as about resistance to the Nazi occupation during World War Two. That same year, Nazik al-Malaika broke poetry convention with her account of cholera in Cairo; one thousand years earlier, Ibn al-Wardi railed against the plague through an ode, only to succumb himself to the disease two days later. But epidemic-related work from the region is not just fictional, going beyond the artistic and impressionist to also include hygiene guidance, travel books and hadiths [sayings, actions or silent approval attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)and used as guidance for everyday life]. Works by the ninth-century writer Ibn Abi al-Dunya, as well as later works by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani gave guidance on how to combat disease - much as we, in the 21st century, look to the World Health Organisation and other expert bodies for guidance. 1947: CHOLERA IN EGYPT: Cholera, by the Iraqi poet Nazik al-Malaika (1923-2007), depicts the death, grief and agony that shattered Egypt during the last months of 1947. The outbreak, which hit the country hard, is considered one of the largest outbreaks of the disease in Egypt during the 20th century, killing around 10,276 people out of a 20,805 recorded cases. During this period Egypt was cut off from the rest of the world, amid restrictions on travel, and the forceful isolation of patients and communities. Although the origin of the infection was never proven, many Egyptians believed it was bought in by English soldiers returning from India Al-Malaika conjures up vivid images of carriages carrying dead bodies and the silence that befell Egyptian streets; she also uses colloquial phrases for the illness such as “al-Shota” and “al-Heyda”, which translate as “swift” and “quick”. Her style was hailed by critics at the time as groundbreaking in its use of free verse rather than the traditional Arabic ode, a form which is now almost 1,500 years old. As such, Cholera heralded a new chapter in Arabic poetry and inspired a new wave of Arab poets - called the Pioneer Generation - to experiment with different forms of poetry. During the 1990s, al-Malaika moved to Cairo, where she spent her last years. It is dawn. Listen to the footsteps of the passerby, in the silence of the dawn.

IntervIew wIth German ventIlator manufacturer Der SpIeGel

Listen, look at the mourning processions, ten, twenty, no… countless. … Everywhere lies a corpse, mourned without a eulogy or a moment of silence. … Humanity protests against the crimes of death. … Cholera is the vengeance of death. … Even the gravedigger has succumbed, the muezzin is dead, and who will eulogize the dead? … O Egypt, my heart is torn by the ravages of death. (Translated by Husain Haddawy, with Nathalie Handal in Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology) 1784: PLAGUE IN NORTH AFRICA: The popular depiction of pandemics has focused on outbreaks such as the medieval Black Death or the influenza outbreak of 1917-1920, which is wrongly labelled “Spanish Flu”. But epidemics can also be localised. The volumes Ten Years’ Residence at the Court of Tripoli were penned by a “Miss Tully”, the sister-in-law of Richard Tully, the British consul in Tripoli, from 1784 onwards. The port city, in modern-day Libya, was hit by the plague in 1785. Tully writes of how burning straw was used in homes as fumigation - along with what we would now recognise as social distancing: “A friend is admitted only into a matted apartment, where he retires to the farther end of the room to a straw seat, No business is now transacted but with a blaze of straw kept burning between the person admitted into the house and the one he is speaking to.” But the situation was just as severe in what is modernday Tunisia. On 29 April 1785, Tully wrote: The last few weeks several couriers have crossed the deserts from Tunis to this city, disseminating the plague in their way; and consequently the country round us is everywhere infected. The plague reached the Tunisian city of Sfax in 1784 and was to kill an estimated 15,000 people, this in a port city of 30,000, double that of Tripoli. Sfax had previously been hit by plague in 1622 and again in 1688, but the outbreak almost a century later was even more lethal, wiping out many of the ruling classes, including officials, politicians, the legal profession - and poets. It began when sea merchants arrived after escaping the plague in Alexandria to the east. They were refused entry to Sfax but some sailors managed to breach the order. Later, war was to follow plague. A Venetian merchant vessel was set alight by forces under the bey - or ruler - of Tunis, amid fears it had been infected with the plague. From autumn 1784 onwards and the following year, the Venetian fleet bombarded cities including Sfax. 1349: PESTILENCE IN SYRIA: Ibn al-Wardi (12921349), a Syrian historian, was born in Maarat al-Numan. He wrote vividly about the Black Death, which swept through the world during the mid 14th-century, from

Asia into the Middle East and then on to Europe. Al-Wardi was living in Aleppo when the plague reached there in 1349, devastating the city for 15 years and claiming around 1,000 lives every day. His An Essay on the Report of the Pestilence, is a historical account of its impact on the Levant. The plague began in the land of darkness. China was not preserved from it. The plague infected the Indians in India, the Sind, the Persians, and the Crimea. The plague destroyed mankind in Cairo. It stilled all movement in Alexandria. Then, the plague turned to Upper Egypt. The plague attacked Gaza, trapped Sidon, and Beirut. Next, it directed its shooting arrows to Damascus. There the plague sat like a lion on a throne and swayed with power, killing daily one thousand or more and destroying the population. Oh God, it is acting by Your command. Lift this from us. It happens where You wish; keep the plague from us. Al-Wardi also wrote two poetry verses about the pandemic: I do not scare from Black Death as others It is but a martyrdom or victory If I died, I rested from the rivalries And If I lived, my eye and ear heald He died two days later from the Black Death, which causes inflammation of glands on the neck, armpit and groin. 10TH CENTURY: FEVER IN EGYPT: Night Visitor, the ode by Iraqi-Syrian poet al-Mutannabi (915-965) to fever, is widely considered one the masterpieces of classical Arabic poetry. Born in Kufa, Iraq, as Ahmed bin al-Hussein alKindi, al-Mutannabi’s nickname translates as “he who would be a prophet”. He treated poetry with zeal and relied on senses and experiences rather than mere abstractions for his inspiration. Night Visitor depicts the condition as a shy lover, sneaking into Mutannabi’s bed after dark. The reader can viscerally feel and see this unwelcome guest, as the verse creates a sense of how fever makes its victim delirious, sweaty and fatigued. Mutannabi’s metaphors and play on language poem were unique at the time, not least the idea of the fever which is never medically specified - as a night visitor. Mutannabi was under stress when he wrote the poem in Egypt, having just fallen out with best friend Sayf alDawla, the ruler of Aleppo, after intellectual in-fighting at the royal court. He was killed by bandits in 965 while travelling from Ahvaz in modern-day Iran. His influence at the time was such that news of his death reverberated like thunder around the Muslim world. For she does not pay her visits save under cover of darkness, I freely offered her my linen and my pillows, But she refused them, and spent the night in my bones. My skin is too contracted to contain both my breath and her, So she relaxes it with all sorts of sickness. When she leaves me, she washes me As though we had retired apart for some forbidden

‘Absolutely mission impossible’

Lukas EbErLE und Martin u. MüLLEr

DER SPIEGEL: Mr. Dräger, your company is currently receiving a record number of orders and shares in your company are in greater demand than ever. Are you able to derive any satisfaction because of it? Dräger: The situation is humbling, but it does make me proud. DER SPIEGEL: The German government has contracted you to build 10,000 ventilators. How far along are you? Dräger: The contract has a detailed delivery plan that spans the entire year. The first devices are now finished. When the news came in from Wuhan, the consequences were almost predictable. But the contract with the German government represents only part of our output. A larger portion is made up of customers from outside the country. DER SPIEGEL: Who all is buying equipment from you? Dräger: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was on the phone earlier. He needs 1,000 ventilators, but we can only make 50 available to him at this point. Countless ministers from all kinds of countries have called, and last weekend, the king of the Netherlands called. DER SPIEGEL: Can you meet the demand? Dräger: Not completely. We doubled our production volume in February and will ultimately quadruple it. In Lübeck alone (where the company is based), we are hiring up to 500 new employees.

DRÄGERWERK IS A WORLD LEADER IN THE PRODUCTION OF VENTILATORS. IN AN INTERVIEW, COMPANY HEAD STEFAN DRÄGER, DISCUSSES THE CHALLENGES OF KEEPING UP WITH CURRENT DEMAND AS THE CORONA CRISIS ACCELERATES DER SPIEGEL: Given the number of contracts, you have little choice but to set priorities. Is “Germany First” the rule? Dräger: No. At first, almost all of the devices went to China, where need was greatest. They needed a rather simple device, and we were able to produce 400 of them a week. The device turns ambient air into purified air, only requires an electrical socket and, if necessary, an oxygen cylinder, and requires no connection to a hospital’s medical gas supply system. DER SPIEGEL: How do you decide these days whose order gets filled? Dräger: That does, in fact, present some difficulties. We are currently receiving news every hour about the situation in various countries that we need to take into account. This means we put human factors first. DER SPIEGEL: Car manufacturers and other firms have announced that they can manufacture ventilator components. Is that purely a PR move or is it actually helpful? Dräger: There is little point in adapting unused production capacity to manufacture respiratory aids. I spoke with Daimler over the weekend. They would also like to help. But it’s unfortunately not so simple.

We can’t build cars either. Before we invest too much thought into this, we should focus on getting devices that are sitting around in a basement somewhere back into working order. DER SPIEGEL: Where do you think these kinds of reserves would come from? Dräger: I believe it’s possible to use devices from ambulance service or anesthesiology departments. Such devices aren’t meant for long-term respiration, but they can serve that purpose. We estimate that in Germany alone, 5,000 devices could be mobilized from this reserve. To make that possible, hospital staff, of course, need to be instructed in how to use these devices. And it also requires action on behalf of the regulatory authorities. DER SPIEGEL: The machines are one thing. But ventilating COVID-19 patients is complex. Isn’t the main shortage a scarcity of experts? Dräger: Yes, I’m afraid. And there is another problem: Germany’s health minister may have taken early action, but it remains unclear how the 10,000 devices he has ordered are to be distributed. As a result, many hospitals are contacting us directly. DER SPIEGEL: What is so demanding about these

action. It is as though the morning drives her away, And her lachrymal ducts are flooded in their four channels. I watch for her time without desire, Yet with the watchfulness of the eager lover. 9TH CENTURY: GUIDANCE IN IRAQ: One of the earliest scholars to write a book about the Black Death was the Iraqi Ibn Abi al-Dunya (823-894). Revered as a teacher, he tutored the Abbasid caliphs, who ruled territory extending across North Africa, the Arabian peninsula, the Levant and modern-day Iran and Afghanistan. During the early centuries of Islam, little was written about pestilence: until the ninth century, no serious scholar had dedicated a book to the subject or suggested measures to take to avoid contagion. Ibn Abi al-Dunya was the first to change that: that he had access to the most powerful rulers of the time meant that his word carried weight (he was, in effect, the closest that Baghdad had to the WHO). In The Book of Pestilences he included a hadith about fever (a hadith is a saying, action or silent approval attributed to the Prophet (PBUH) and are used as guidance for everyday life): The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, entered the home of Umm Sa’ib and he said, “What ails you, O Umm Sa’ib? You are shivering.” She said: “It is a fever. Allah has not blessed it.” The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Do not curse fever. Verily, it removes the sins of the children of Adam, just as a furnace removes dirt from iron.” The Book of Illness and Atonements, meanwhile, gives examples of how people recovered from illness, including the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), during the early days of Islam. His work was later cited by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (1372-1449), born in the Palestinian town of Askalan, who became a noted scholar in Cairo, one of the Middle East’s major seats of learning. His book Offering Almsgiving in the Grace of Pestilence, was to prove one of the most popular works on the Black Death, which had just swept the eastern hemisphere. 639: HADITHS IN PALESTINE: The Palestinian village of Emmuas lies between Jerusalem and Ramleh. In 639 it was hit by a plague that spread across the Levant and claimed the lives of many of the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) companions. Around 25,000 died in the plague of Emmuas, including the companions Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Muadh ibn Jabal, Shurahbil ibn Hasana and Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan. As a result, Muslim scholars wrote about what the plague was, steps that residents should take, the best food to eat, personal hygiene and how to move from city to city. One of the widely cited hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in books about plagues, advises: If you hear of an outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it; but if the plague outbreaks in a place while you are in it, do not leave that place. Another hadith read: Those with contagious diseases should be kept away from those who are healthy Isolation and staying at home: as relevant now as they were 1,400 years ago. devices? Dräger: It’s not about the device, but about the person who is attached to it. You have to be able to evaluate the person’s state and know how to precisely adjust the device to first save the person’s life and then ensure that they quickly grow healthy again. This requires years of experience. DER SPIEGEL: In which country is the supply situation currently especially challenging? Dräger: In Europe, the number of intensive-care beds per capita is very unequally distributed. In Italy, it is three times lower than here. In England, five times lower. The challenge in England will be greater than in Spain. And the situation in the U.S. is very alarming. The reporting system there is also underdeveloped. DER SPIEGEL: Have you received a call from U.S. President Donald Trump yet? Dräger: We are waiting for it. The U.S. authorities have made a request for 100,000 ventilators. That likely exceeds the annual production capacity of all manufacturers. It is absolutely mission impossible. And even that number won’t be enough. We applied to take on part of the delivery, because we have a responsibility as the biggest manufacturer. DER SPIEGEL: When will a shortage begin developing for filters, tubes and other components for the ventilators? Dräger: It already has. When it comes to parts supplies, we have observed a phenomenon similar to the one with toilet paper. There is panic buying going on, but by hospitals - and it is to everyone’s detriment. The parts come from all over the world, including from Turkey. I very much hope that the supply chains remain intact despite the protectionism. If someone decides to disrupt them, there will no longer be any ventilators, for anyone.

Sunday, 29 March, 2020

BUSINESS 09

IMF chief: 'Clear we have entered recession' The coronavirus pandemic has driven the global economy into a downturn that will require massive funding to help developing nations, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said. "It is clear that we have entered a recession" that will be worse than in 2009 following the global financial crisis, she said in an online press briefing. With the worldwide economic "sudden stop," Georgieva said the fund's estimate "for the overall financial needs of emerging markets is $2.5 trillion." But she warned that estimate "is on the lower end." Governments in emerging markets, which have suffered an exodus of capital of more than $83 billion in recent weeks, can cover much of that, but "clearly the domestic resources are insufficient" and many already have high debt loads. Over 80 countries, mostly of low incomes, have already have requested emergency aid from the International Monetary Fund, she said. "We do know that their own reserves and domestic resources will not be sufficient," Georgieva said, adding that the fund is aiming to beef up its response "to do more, do it better, do it faster than ever before." She also welcomed the $2.2 trillion economic package approved by the US Senate, saying "it is absolutely necessary to cushion the world's largest economy against an abrupt drop the economic activities." The US package also is important because it accelerated Washington's $78 billion contribution to the IMF's lending capacity. The fund membership in January approved a plan to double one of its funding baskets -- the New Arrangements to Borrow -- to about $500 billion. "The US decision to speed up approval of its substantial new contributions to the IMF is a powerful message to the international community and helps solidify the IMF's (overall) $1 trillion lending capacity," Georgieva said in a statement after the House of Representatives approved the massive rescue package. President Donald Trump signed the measure into law Friday evening. It provides direct cash payments to Americans, a huge expansion of unemployment benefits, and grants and loans to businesses to help them weather the economic shutdown. The IMF chief spoke to reporters following a virtual meeting with the Washington-based lender's steering committee, when she also requested an increase in the fund's fast-deploying emergency facilities from their current level of around $50 billion. AGENCIES

Sufficient stocks of food items available, says USC MD ISLAMABAD APP

Utility Stores Corporation (USC) Managing Director Umar Lodhi said on Saturday that all utility store outlets were opened across the country to serve the masses, especially the marginalized segment of the society. In a statement, he said at this difficult time when the whole country was locked down, utility stores were ensuring the provision of basic items on subsidized rates to its consumers. He said that a sufficient stock of sugar, wheat flour, rice, ghee and pulses was available with the corporation, adding that swift action was being taken to resolve issues in areas where shortage of daily use items were being repored. The MD lauded the USC staff for serving the people despite facing the threat of coronavirus. "At all outlets, precautionary measures have been made to protect the staff as well as the consumers from the virus." He said following the country's lockdown, sale of the corporation has witnessed a significant increase. "The USC management is busy all the time to facilitate its consumers by providing all necessary items at affordable price so that at this critical stage, the consumers can easily get edible and other items of daily use," he added.

SBP reDUCeS CheqUe ClearIng tIMe In wake oF vIrUS oUtBreak KARACHI

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MEIrYUM ALI

HE State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has significantly reduced the time it takes to clear a cheque, according to a circular issued on Saturday. According to Circular No.4 of the SBP’s Payment Systems Department, the payee or beneficiary can directly deposit a crossed cheque at the paying or drawee’s bank, rather than their own bank branches as per the existing practice. This means that the SBP has omitted the beneficiary or payee’s bank from the cheque clearing equation. The payee can now provide their account

details at the paying or drawee’s bank, and the funds would get transferred. In effect, that means the time it takes to clear a cheque should be significantly reduced, from the usual 48 hours to the same day. The SBP has done this in order to limit person-to-person interactions, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. To that end, banks can now also ask the clearing house, NIFT, to clear cheques through image based clearing, to minimize person-to-person interaction. According to the SBP, the funds may be transferred through various online fund transfer services. These include the MT102 of PRISM; the Over the Counter interbank fund transfer; or a bank’s internal online system if both

the payer and payee use the same bank. The paying or drawee bank has to ensure it authenticates and verifies their customers, through customer call bank, before debiting their customer’s account. The payee or beneficiary bank also needs to authenticate their customer’s credentials before crediting the customer account. Banks are now also allowed to make arrangements from the doorsteps of their customer should they request it, using registered addresses. Customers can also drop their cheques in selected branches’ drop boxes. Priority and corporate customers can now send scanned images of cheques along with details of the beneficiary through registered emails to

COVID-19: CNG owners fear closures, demand ‘special relief package’ PESHAWAR StAff rEPort

Owners and dealers of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) have demanded the government to announce a 'special financial relief package' for the sector, as it was bearing the adverse effects of coronavirus outbreak in the country. In a meeting with Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President EngrMaqsoodPervaiz though video link on Saturday, the CNG owners said under the special relief package, the government should reduce gas tariff to Rs780 per MMBUTU across the country, as this rate would help maintain parity between CNG and petrol. They further asked the government to charge sale tax on the cost of gas at 17pc only, besides seeking a 4pc exemption in income tax. The sector representatives demanded the government to allow payment for upcoming month gas bill in four equal instalments so that the CNG industry could be rescued in wake of coronavirus pandemic. They maintained that an immediate announcement of a special relief financial package for the CNG sector was necessary for them to avert closures. Speaking on the occasion, EngrMaqsoodPervaiz welcomed the government's move to reduce petrol and diesel prices by up to Rs15 per litre, saying the initiative would “definitely give relief to masses and industries”. However, he reiterated that the government

ICCI calls for ‘urgent remedial measures’ to stabilise exchange rate ISLAMABAD APP

must reduce gas tariff and exempt the CNG sector from income and sale taxes through a special economic relief package. The SCCI chief noted that the gas tariff has gone up by 71 per cent during the last 10 years owing to the imposition of various taxes on the CNG sector. He feared if the government does not announce a relief package for the CNG sector, the industry, which is already facing multiple problems, will become totally unfeasible, investments worth billions of rupees [in the sector] would go to waste, while hundreds of thousands would be left unemployed. Pervaiz said that a number of CNG stations had already closed down due to high taxation, unfriendly policies and other issues. "High prices of CNG will have its impact on the masses as well, as most of the public transport is plying on CNG. Therefore, we urge Prime Minister Imran Khan to announce a special relief package to rescue this important sector in the wake of coronavirus."

Google-parent Alphabet to donate $800m in response to corona crisis Alphabet Inc will donate more than $800 million (645 million pounds) in funds towards producing medical supplies used to fight COVID-19, and in ad credits to government and health organizations and businesses, Chief Executive Officer SundarPichai said late Friday. The company is working with Magid Glove and Safety to produce 2 million to 3 million face masks, and will financially support efforts to boost the production capacity for lifesaving medical devices and

mobile apps to banks. The paying or drawee bank will have to authenticate, after which it can transfer funds to the beneficiary bank via the MT102 of PRISM. The new steps are part of the SBP’s ongoing effort to speed up the digitization process of banks, and reduce person-to-person interactions during the pandemic. The SBP had earlier on March 18 waived all fees or charges on online bank transfers. It reiterated this, along with the need for bank branches to stay open, on March 23. At the time, it also asked banks to be mindful and vigilant of any increased cyber security risks, a point it again noted in this circular.

personal protective equipment, Pichai said. The rapid outbreak, which has killed nearly 25,000 people globally, has strained healthcare systems around the world and led to a shortage of medical equipment including face masks and ventilators. The company will provide $340 million in Google ad credits to small and medium businesses active on its platform and $250 million in ad grants for the World Health Organization and many government agencies, Pichai said in a blog post. AGENCIES

Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Muhammad Ahmed Waheed has urged the government to strengthen the exchange rates in order to support the country’s businesses and economy. Talking to APP on Saturday, he expressed dissatisfaction over devaluation of rupee against the US dollar post the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the country. He explained that the main cause of currency devaluation was the sudden shortage of dollars from the market as people had withdrawn investments from the stock market to purchase dollars. "Some industries are importing 70pc raw material for manufacturing activities and a rise in dollar will further increase their production cost, which will make the industry and exports uncompetitive in the international market," he said. "Trade and industrial activities are already suffering badly due to the virus issue, and a further fall in the value of rupee against dollar will completely jeopardize the survival of businesses." He called upon the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor to take notice of the situation and initiate urgent remedial measures to bring stability in the value of rupee in order to safeguard the country's economy. The ICCI president noted that 25pc population of the country was living below the poverty line, and if the current [lockdown] situation continues, jobs of millions of people would come under threat. He urged the business community and well-off traders to support needy people in the current situation and provide them with all necessities of the life. “Local business and traders' community and will fully support the incumbent government's endeavours for economic growth in the country. Prime Minister Imran Khan had provided a muchneeded relief to people by announcing a Rs15 per litre cut in the price of petroleum products. In addition, we also appreciate the government’s strategy to fight current challenge of COVID-19.”

China’s booming mask producers are ‘printing money’ BEIJING AGENCIES

As the coronavirus pandemic that originated in Wuhan went global, thousands of factories in China nimbly turned to a new and very profitable market — face masks for export. At the height of China’s outbreak in early February, Guan Xunze’s company created a new mask factory in just eleven days. The factory, with five production lines in northeastern China, made the much-needed N95 face masks which were in huge demand as infection numbers surged. As cases in the country have dwindled, the 34-year-old — who was previously in pharmaceuticals — is now profiting from new markets and exporting masks to Italy, where the death toll has overtaken that of China. In the first two months of the year, a staggering 8,950 new manufacturers started

producing masks in China, according to business data platform Tianyancha — filling the huge gap in demand. But after the center of the outbreak, Hubei province, was placed on lockdown and the initial frenzy began to die down in China, virus outbreaks emerged in new hotspots elsewhere in the world. Globally, over 400,000 have been infected with the deadly virus, and demand for protective equipment is still soaring as nations across the globe battle the outbreak. “A mask machine is a real cash printer,” said Shi Xinghui, sales manager of an N95 mask machine company in Dongguan city, southeastern Guangdong province. “The profit of a mask now is at least several cents compared to less than one in the past. “Printing 60,000 or 70,000 masks a day is equivalent to printing money.” Qi Guangtu has put more than 50 million yuan ($7 million) into his factory producing mask-making machines

in the southern industrial hub of Dongguan. It has been in 24-hour continuous production since January 25 — two days after the dramatic lockdown of Wuhan. “Cost recovery is certainly not a problem,” he said, adding that 70 sets of equipment have been sold for more than 500,000 yuan ($71,000) each. He has more than 200 additional orders in hand, worth over 100 million yuan ($14 million). “The machines pay for themselves in 15 days, ” said Qi, saying the investment is worth it for his clients. Manufacturer You Lixin had never been in a mask factory before. But as the market soared and he saw the opportunity, it took him just ten days from first deciding to enter the industry to delivering automated machines capable of producing masks. “I slept two or three hours a day, so did my clients,” he said. Your clients also slept in his plant, waiting desperately to collect their new machinery.

Some of them are garment factory owners in Wenzhou, eastern Zhejiang province, who had switched to producing face masks. “They were facing orders they had insufficient capacity to deliver, and they couldn’t make the deliveries,” You said. “The panic intensified as the crisis accelerated at that time.” The high levels of mask production has dramatically pushed up prices for raw materials needed to make them. According to Guan, the price of fabric has risen astronomically — from 10,000 yuan to 480,000 yuan per ton. Producer Liao Biao struggled to bring back the components of mask machine piece by piece from outside Hunan Province in late January, with the cross province border closed. Finally, to pay an expert tester for the mask machines, Liao paid more than ten times the normal price. “Investment is blind now,” You said. But despite the rising costs of production,

the profits still make the industry appealing. According to China’s official figures, China’s daily mask production has passed 116 million now, with many meeting overseas demand. Guan has already delivered one million masks to Italy, while Shi currently has more than 200 orders from South Korea and countries in the EU. “Dongguan remains the world’s factory,” said Shi. “The first peak of orders was during the middle of February. Now there is a second wave because of the pandemic,” said Shi. Liao is also seeking to export his masks to Europe and Canada. “The demand for masks has been alleviated at home — now we can have some surplus to support other countries,” said Liao. “We are willing to help others.” And Guan is optimistic about the future of the industry beyond the outbreak. “Most people will have the habit wearing a mask after this outbreak,” said Guan.

Sunday, 29 March, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS NEw York MEdiCal workErs dECrY 'abYsMal' laCk of CoroNavirus protECtioN NEW YORK

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EDICAL staff in America’s coronavirus hotbed New York are struggling with long hours and a dire need for protective equipment — and as infections surge, they increasingly fear for their own safety. Doctors and nurses are working around the clock caring for patients hit by the fast-spreading infection, risking their lives on the front lines of the global crisis. The same week the United States became the new epicenter of the pandemic — posting over 100,000 confirmed cases of infection, including more than 1,500 deaths — Kious Kelly, a nurse manager at a Manhattan hospital, succumbed to a fatal case of Covid-19. The death of the 48-year-old male nurse crystallized fears of many medical workers who’ve lamented severe shortages of necessary supplies, including plastic protective gowns and hospitalgrade masks. “It’s abysmal,” said Andrew, a psychiatry resident in a New York hospital who spoke on condition his name be changed. He is now quarantined at home with a likely case of the virus himself. “There’s not enough money, there aren’t enough tests, there’s not enough personal protective equipment for people who are dealing with this — not just the doctors, but nurses, ancillary staff, janitors — everyone in the hospital who are getting huge exposure to the virus,” the resident told AFP in an interview punctuated by coughs. Diana Torres, a former colleague of the late Kelly, said hospital staff are “devastated” that “he paid the ultimate

price.” The mother of three told AFP there are units of the hospital filled to the brim with coronavirus patients. She works in a rehabilitation section of the facility and personally has handled at least three patients known to have the virus — and perhaps more, as a lack of testing makes it impossible to be sure. Kelly’s death triggered an outpouring of angry posts on social media over inadequate protections — including one viral photo showing staff wearing garbage bags over their scrubs. Mount Sinai said in a statement it was “grieving deeply” over Kelly’s death — while also emphasizing that “we always provide our staff with critically important PPE.”

But Torres said it took significant pushing to acquire one face shield, just one N-95 respirator mask and one gown — which she said she must reuse. “I have nothing for my head, nothing for my shoes,” she said. “There is this sense of hopelessness.” “Everybody is scared.” New York state has counted more than 44,600 positive cases, with nearly 6,500 people currently hospitalized. Andrew is among the many New Yorkers who have fallen ill but has been unable to get tested due to restrictions that reserve scarce tests for the most critical cases. A week ago he came down with a scratchy throat that evolved into the virus’ customary symptoms: dry cough,

body aches, headache, chest pressure and elevated temperature. Andrew also experienced an abrupt inability to taste or smell — believed to be a sign of infection — and has yet to regain his olfactory senses. His case is mild, but he worries others in hospitals could develop more severe infections because of constant exposure to sick patients without proper safety measures. “People on the front lines aren’t getting protected. They’re lambs to slaughter,” he said. “It’s criminal.” “Being in health care already is a huge sacrifice. It’s such a shame that it has come to this. It has been wholly inadequate by the federal government. More people are going to die.”

Stranded by virus lockdown, India migrant workers walk home NEW DELHI AGENCIES

With India locked down over the coronavirus and no way to earn money, Dilipji Thakor faces a grim choice: either walk home or die hungry. Thakor is among millions of migrant workers left jobless and penniless by the full shutdown of the country on Wednesday that has sparked an exodus from major cities. Thousands are walking long distances back to their home villages after all transport was stopped except for essential services as authorities struggle to contain the outbreak, which has infected

more than 700 people. Huge numbers had crammed onto trains and buses before the country of 1.3 billion people ground to a halt for three weeks, but many others were left stranded. Now they are trying to get home any way they can, often on foot, with little money or food, and eateries and guesthouses closed along the way. “Rather than die hungry, we decided to walk,” said Thakor, who worked at a now-shuttered shopping mall in Ahmedabad in Gujarat state, as he trudged along a road. Jamu Rathwa carried his daughter on his shoulders as he ambled along a highway from the western city of Surat, where until recently he earned around

pope faces coronavirus 'tempest' alone in st peter's square VATICAN CITY AGENCIES

Pope Francis stood alone in vast Saint Peter’s Square Friday to bless Catholics around the world suffering under the coronavirus pandemic, urging people to ease their fears through faith. “Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by,” he said. In a historic first, the Argentine performed the rarely recited “Urbi et Orbi” blessing from the steps of the basilica to an empty square, addressing those in lockdown across the globe via television, radio and social media. “We find ourselves afraid and lost,” he said in a homily ahead of the blessing, as he stood under a canopy protecting him from a downpour. He described the coronavirus “tempest” which he said had put everybody “in the same boat”. The hour had come to “reawaken and put into practice that solidarity and hope capable of giving strength, support and meaning to these hours when everything seems to be floundering”, he said.

four dollars a day toiling on construction sites. “At least we have a home and support system in our village. Here (in Surat) we have nobody,” Rathwa said. Birender, a now out-of-work driver on the city limits of New Delhi, said that his family 320 kilometres (200 miles) away desperately wants him to come home in “any way possible”. “I haven’t had a proper meal in the last three to four days… I don’t know what I will do here without food or anywhere to stay,” he told AFP. THOUSANDS ON THE MOVE: There are usually around 100 million unskilled or semi-skilled migrant workers in India, according to a government sur-

vey for 2016-17 — around a fifth of the country’s workforce. A lack of jobs, particularly in poor states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, forces them to head to major cities and wealthier southern states. They live in cramped apartments, working long hours for a few dollars a day in often unsafe conditions with no social security. Any money left over after covering their expenses is sent back to their families. Since many are unregistered, it is unclear how many have now travelled home and how many are on the road, but media reports suggest there are tens of thousands on the move.

'Corona criminals' prey on Europe's virus fears PARIS AGENCIES

From trafficking dodgy surgical masks to peddling counterfeit medicines and running internet scams, criminals are finding ways to profit from the coronavirus crisis, European police warn. With billions of people under lockdown in their homes and borders shut, police chiefs say criminals are finding it hard to make money out of “traditional” activities like burglary and drug smuggling. Instead they are preying on people’s fears of the COVID19 pandemic to sell them substandard protective goods or trick people out of their cash online, warned Europe’s police agency Europol. “Criminals are just interested in one question: ‘how can I make more money?’,” Europol director Catherine De Bolle told AFP in an interview. “This is why they are now abusing the pandemic to change their way of working.” Police around the world seized 34,000 counterfeit surgical masks in one major operation targeting so-called “corona criminals” earlier this month, Europol said in a report Friday. “Fraudsters have been very quick to adapt well-known fraud schemes to capitalise on the anxieties and fears of victims throughout the crisis,” the report added. DECREASE IN BREAK-INS In many European countries, police have reported a dramatic drop in common criminal behaviour. Spanish police said there had been a roughly 50 percent drop in criminal offences compared to a year earlier since the country was put on a near total lockdown on March 14. “There is no doubt that confinement makes crime more difficult,” said the deputy director of Spain’s Guardia Civil police force, Laurentino Cena. Sweden too said it had seen burglaries drop since people were asked to work at home. Sales of street drugs have also dropped sharply in many countries since the outbreak as authorities shut borders and restrict the movement of people. But the flip side of the coin is a rise in other forms of crime trying to profit on the back of the disease. Austria’s Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said this week that “we see a decrease in breaks-ins, burglaries, but at the same time cybercrime is on the rise”. Online fraud was exploding across Europe, several agencies and police forces said. The World Health Organization, at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic, has warned of a sharp increase in email phishing and scams using its name to try to steal money and sensitive information. Britain’s National Crime Agency said criminals “target people who seek to buy medical supplies on the internet, sending emails offering fake medical support and defrauding people who may be vulnerable or increasingly isolated at home”. WORST IN HUMANITY: In Germany too, “cybercriminals are exploiting people’s current concerns about COVID-19 to send phishing emails with malicious content or use this fear with fraudulent intent”, police said. Fears were growing in Italy, the country worst hit by the virus, that small businesses short of money due to the crisis will turn to the mafia to save them. In Denmark, the government has promised high sentences for people who steal hydro-alcoholic gel and burglars posing as health workers of paramedics.

Fears of domestic violence rise as millions confined over virus BERLIN AGENCIES

With families across Europe confined to their homes to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, fears are rising of a surge in domestic violence. From Berlin to Paris, Madrid, Rome and Bratislava, associations that help victims of domestic violence have sounded the alarm after Europe overtook China to become the epicentre of the pandemic. “For many people, their home is already not a safe place,” says the German federal association of women’s counselling centres and helplines (BFF). But the stress caused by social isolation is exacerbating tensions and increasing “the risk of domestic and sexual violence against women and children”, the association warns. And the risks are not limited to homes where violence was already a problem before. On top of the stress caused by confinement, fears around job security and financial difficulties are also increasing the likelihood of conflicts. “It’s putting a lot of pressure on households,” says Florence Claudepierre, head of the FCPE parents’ federation in the Upper Rhine, a region hit

hard by the pandemic in France. She said she is hearing stories of “parents who are cracking, who can’t carry on” in families that have not previously had any problems. In China, which is slowly emerging from several weeks of total lockdown, the women’s rights organisation Weiping has reported a threefold increase in reports of violence against women.

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In Spain, which has the second-worst outbreak in Europe after Italy, a 35-yearold mother of two was murdered by her partner last week. WHERE CAN I GO? Elsewhere, help centres have noted a drop in calls for help — which is not necessarily seen as a good sign either. For children, young people and women who are victims of domestic vio-

lence — mental or physical — the current situation means “being constantly available” for abuse by the perpetrator, the German federation stresses. Decisions to shut down schools, sports clubs and youth centres are important to curb the spread of the virus and prevent hospitals from being overrun, acknowledges Rainer Rettinger, who heads a German child protection association. But “who is seeing and hearing abused children today?” he asks. “Now violence, too, has been confined. That’s what we’re afraid of,” says Martine Brousse, head of Parisian organisation La Voix de l’Enfant (The Child’s Voice). As governments pour billions into their economies and health services, they should “not lose sight of the importance of equality and fundamental human rights,” Beatrice Fresko-Rolfo, the general rapporteur on violence against women for the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, pointed out recently. Domestic violence associations are facing a double-edged sword: With many social workers having to work from home, they are unable to reach victims; and when people need to be brought to safety, there are often not enough places in the refuges.

Sunday, 29 March, 2020

Belarus plOughs lONe furrOw Over COrONavirus as fOOTBall league plays ON ROME

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S the rest of Europe shuts up shop to combat the new coronavirus, Belarus remains resolutely open for business. Restaurants in the former Soviet Republic continue to serve food, and the country's football league plays on. Despite being at the door of a Europe grappling with the deadly COVID-19, life goes on here more or less unchecked. The Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has dismissed the global health crisis as a "psychosis", and refuses to follow the example of much of the globe by imposing a lockdown. With less than 100 positive cases and no deaths in Belarus, Lukashenko this week suggested "there shouldn't be any panic" over the virus. He encouraged his citizens to work on the land. "There, the tractor will heal everyone. The fields heal everyone," suggested the straight-talking former collective farm director who assumed power in 1994. Vodka and saunas also figure on his list of miracle cures. And so, in stark contrast to leagues elsewhere on the European continent, the Belarus championship like the country's tractors, ploughs on, undeterred. Special measures have been put in place nonetheless including thermal cameras to check the temperature of fans as they enter stadia which are disinfected twice a day.

As a result, a rare spotlight has been shone on the humble "Vysshaya Liga", the Belarus first division. Russian public television channel Match TV has bought the rights to screen its matches. And former Belarus star Alexander Hleb suggested in the German press that it could be lit up by the arrivals of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. "We've taken all the measures recommended by the Sports Ministry. All those who are in contact with fans...are supplied with gloves," Belarus football federation spokesman Alexsandr Aleinik told AFP. Crowds are well down though, by half

last week compared to the week before, "enabling fans to distance themselves in the stands" said Aleinik. Since Tuesday however, there has been a shift in tone from the top. In a meeting with the Chinese ambassador Lukashenko asserted that his country was "controlling very seriously" the situation. And newspapers and state television began to talk about the pandemic which has now killed more than 25,000 people. But they stick to the line that a general lockdown is not the solution. Minsk, the capital, has become quieter over the past few days, over 65s are en-

couraged to stay indoors, pupils are authorised not to attend school. During rush hour trains on the metro underground are not as full as usual, numerous companies are allowing staff to work from home. But bars, cafes and shops remain steadfastly open, without any self-distancing protocol advice for their customers. Ivan, an employee of a new technology company, has been working from home for the past three weeks. Yet despite that precaution he meets up with his friends every evening "at the gym or in a cafe". The authorities justify the lax health regime by the strict confinement of those who have tested positive. Deputy Health Minister Elena Bogdan says that anyone who has the virus or is showing virus-like symptoms is isolated and hospitalised. And those they have been in contact with are placed in quarantine. The country's opposition denounces the official approach. "The authorities are preparing enormous savings on pensions" opposition minister Mikola Statkevitch said caustically in a video message. He was alluding to the way the coronavirus has taken a devastating toll on the world's older population. Another reason for the absence of the draconian measures adopted elsewhere, according to analysts: the country is already in economic difficulty creating tensions with its key ally, Russia.

Eight West Ham players have virus symptoms says Brady

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squash great azam Khan dies of coronavirus aged 95 SPORTS DESK Azam Khan, one of the greatest squash players of all time, passed away in London on Saturday, becoming one of the thousands of victims of the coronavirus pandemic. The 95-year-old Azam, who won four consecutive British Open titles between 1959-62, tested positive for COVID-19 last week and breathed his last London’s Ealing Hospital. His son Wasil Khan, a former British junior champion, told ‘The News’ from London that the hospital authorities informed the family about Azam’s demise on Saturday afternoon. “All of us here in London are in isolation and the news has come as a big jolt for us,” said Wasil. Azam, who had settled in Britain back in the sixties, is one of the prominent members of the great Khan dynasty which ruled international squash decades. His elder brother, Hashim Khan, was the first Pakistani to win the British Open back in 1951.

virus crisis hasn't ruined rashford's recovery

LONDON AGENCIES

New date for Tokyo Olympics 'won't satisfy everybody', says Coe MONACCO: World Athletics president Sebastian Coe admitted Friday that settling on a new date for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 will not satisfy everybody. "All sports have made it pretty clear they have particular challenges at particular times of the year," said Coe. "We are probably not going to reach a solution that meets with the approval of every sport. "But there does have to be an element of flexibility and there is going to be flexibility for the next two years." The 2021 World Athletics Championships, for example, are scheduled to be staged in August next year in Eugene, Oregon. The 2020 Olympics, which were set for July 24-August 9 this year, were postponed until 2021 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) this week because of the coronavirus. However, there is no definite date yet for the rescheduled Games with IOC chief Thomas Bach saying Tuesday the Olympics "must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021". AGENCIES

West Ham have eight players in selfisolation after showing mild symptoms of the coronavirus, according to the club's vice-chairwoman Karren Brady. The Hammers are the latest Premier League club to be hit by the pandemic. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi - both now recovered -- and several unnamed Leicester players tested positive for the virus. "I am relieved to say they are all showing mild symptoms and, along with their families, seem to be well," Brady told The Sun newspaper on Saturday. "But it is no more than a handshake, sneeze or cough away from any of us, so no one should be complacent." West Ham's players are training at home and the club hopes to resume regular sessions at its base when Britain's lockdown period ends on April 13. The Premier League season is suspended until at least April 30, with reports suggesting there will be a further delay or even cancellation of the remaining fixtures. But Brady hopes the domestic season can resume and reach a conclusion, even if games have to be

played behind closed doors until July. "When we - all Prem clubs - last spoke, we agreed to get going again as soon as possible," Brady said. "And that games will run into July, if required, to get this campaign finished. This is the plan. This is what we

want to deliver. "It may be games have to be played behind closed doors, which no one wants - especially the players and fans. "But we hope it might just be possible to go ahead once the sharp graph of it bottoms out."

MANCHESTER: Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford says his recovery from the back injury that has sidelined him since January has not been affected by the coronavirus crisis. Rashford sustained a double stress fracture in an FA Cup tie against Wolves that initially looked set to rule him out of the rest of the campaign. But, with the pandemic postponing the Premier League season until at least April 30, Rashford has an opportunity to get back in action if the campaign can resume. "I feel much better. I have a scan in another couple of days so it'll solidify it then but I feel, comparing it to two or three weeks ago, 10 times better and for me now it's just about getting ready to build it back up to training and playing games with the team," Rashford told Sky Sports News on Saturday. "I'm in a much better place, I'm much happier than I was about a month ago so things are looking positive." Despite government advice to stay at home during the pandemic, Rashford said the situation has had little impact on his fitness recovery work. AGENCIES

Former Liga winger dons white coat to take on coronavirus BARCELONA AGENCIES

Journeyman footballer Toni Dovale put his football boots to one side and slipped into a pharmacist's white coat in the front line struggle against coronavirus in Spain. The 29-year-old pharmacy graduate and former top-level sportsman had been playing football for a Thai club, but was visiting his family in Spain when the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. So he decided to pitch in his 'grain of sand' against the virus using the studies which he had yet to put into practice due to his passion for football. "I really was packing my bags to go back when things got complicated," Dovale told AFP. Travel restrictions trapped Dovale in his native La Coruna in the Atlantic coast region of Galicia, where he started his football career with nearby Celta Vigo. Although Dovale also completed his

university studies in pharmacy four years ago, he had never actually worked in the field. Now with the world of sport in limbo the footballer realised the time was ripe to use his studies to help his homeland. "I was playing in Asia then; pharmacy is different there and I was never in Spain long enough to work," he says, "With football stopped and travel banned I said to myself 'get some practical experience and do your bit'." The coronavirus is ravaging Spain with a death toll of over 4,800 and some 64,000 registered cases of infection. There is hope of course with around 10,000 people already cured of the virus in Spains for multimedia clients. "We're in a really frightening situation. Those of us working with the public are afraid, and the people who come to us for advice are afraid too," says Dovale, who is working in a pharmacy run by his family. He has gloves but no mask, and does not

appear ready to lose his smile any time soon. "We all know we are exposed, that this is a pandemic and a complicated situation," he says. "But we all know too that our behaviour in complicated situations defines who we are, and for me I need to put fears for my own safety to one side and help in any way that I can. "There are shortages of many things and we are struggling to get enough of the simple things like thermometers, paracetamol, gloves and hand gels." Dovale has played football for Spanish top flight clubs Leganes and Rayo Vallecano, Sporting Kansas City in the United States and also Bengaluru in the Indian Super League before moving to Thailand. "Right now I'm the same as everyone else in that I train at home jumping over the furniture," he jokes. "I start at 7am and I use whatever I can including bottles of water and stuff like that. Then I go downstairs to the pharmacy.

CMYK

Sunday, 29 March, 2020

NEWS

ItAly, SPAIn Suffer record vIruS deAthS AS InfectIon rAte SurgeS ROME

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TALY has logged a shocking spike in its already staggering coronavirus death toll, with officials warning the peak of the crisis was still days away, as the global infection rate surges relentlessly upwards. With more than 300,000 people infected in Europe alone, the disease shows few signs of slowing, and has already cast the world into a recession, economists say. In the US, which now has more than 100,000 Covid-19 patients, President Donald Trump invoked wartime powers on Friday to force a private company to make medical equipment, as the country’s overburdened healthcare system struggles to cope. “Today’s action will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives,” Trump said as he issued the order to auto giant General Motors. With 60 per cent of the country in lockdown, and infections skyrocketing, Trump also signed the largest stimulus package in US history, worth $2 trillion. It came as Italy recorded almost 1,000 deaths from the virus on Friday — the worst one-day toll anywhere around the world since the pandemic began. One coronavirus sufferer, a cardiologist from Rome who has since recovered, recalled his hellish experience at a hospital in the capital. “The treatment for the oxygen therapy is painful, looking for the radial artery is difficult. Desperate other patients were crying out, ‘enough, enough’,” he told AFP. In one bright spot, infection rates in Italy continued their recent downward trend. But the head of the national health institute Silvio Brusaferro said the country was not out of the woods yet, predicting “we could peak in the next few days”.

WITH MORE THAN 300,000 PEOPLE INFECTED IN EUROPE ALONE, CORONAVIRUS SHOWS FEW SIGNS OF SLOWING, AND HAS ALREADY CAST WORLD INTO A RECESSION

Spain’s coronavirus fatalities rose by a record 832 people overnight to 5,690 as hospitals and morgues were overwhelmed and a police chief fought back tears announcing a colleague’s death. Second only to Italy in fatalities, Spain also saw infections rise to 72,248 on Saturday from 64,059 the day before. Health emergency chief Fernando Simon said the epidemic appeared to be reaching its peak in some areas, but the nation was short of intensive care unit beds. “We continue to have a major problem with ICU saturation,” said Simon. As Spain prepared to enter its third week of lockdown, an unused public building known as “the doughnut” was the latest to be turned into a makeshift morgue after a city ice rink last week, Spanish media including El Pais newspa-

per reported. ‘DRAMATIC SITUATION’: Europe has suffered the brunt of the coronavirus crisis in recent weeks, with millions across the continent on lockdown and the streets of Paris, Rome and Madrid eerily empty. In Britain, the two men leading the country’s fight against the coronavirus — Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Health Secretary Matt Hancock — both announced Friday they had tested positive for COVID-19. “I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government’s response via video-conference as we fight this virus,” Johnson, who had initially resisted calls for a nationwide lockdown before changing course, wrote on Twitter. Meanwhile, other countries across the world were bracing for the virus’s full im-

pact, with AFP tallies showing more than 26,000 deaths globally. The World Health Organisation’s regional director for Africa warned the continent faced a “dramatic evolution” of the pandemic, as South Africa also began life under lockdown and reported its first virus death. In a sign of how difficult the stay-at-home order could be to enforce, police came up against hundreds of shoppers trying to force their way into a supermarket in Johannesburg on Friday, while the streets of a nearby township buzzed with people and traffic. However, two months of almost total isolation appeared to have paid off in China’s Wuhan, as the Chinese city of 11 million people where the virus first emerged partially reopened. Since January, residents have been forbidden to leave, with roadblocks installed and millions subjected to dramatic restrictions on their daily life. But on Saturday people were allowed to enter the city, and the subway network was expected to restart. Some shopping centres will open their doors next week. YOUNGER PATIENTS: In the United States, known infections jumped past 100,000, the world’s highest figure, with more than 1,500 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. In New York City, the US epicentre of the crisis, health workers battled a surging toll, including an increasing number of younger patients. “Now it’s 50-year-olds, 40-year-olds, 30-year-olds,” said one respiratory therapist. To ease the strain on virus-swamped emergency rooms in Los Angeles, a giant US naval hospital ship docked there to take patients with other conditions. In New Orleans, famed for its jazz and nightlife, health experts believe the monthlong Mardi Gras in February could be largely responsible for its severe outbreak.

Taliban say will not negotiate with team announced by Afghan govt KABUL AGENCIES

The Taliban refused to negotiate with the team announced by the Afghan government, the militant group’s spokesman said on Saturday, in a potential setback to the next steps of the US brokered peace process. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the group would not negotiate with the team as it was not selected in a way that included “all Afghan factions”. The Afghan government announced a team late on Thursday, which was later praised as “inclusive” by US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. The United States signed a troop withdrawal deal with the Taliban in February, but progress on moving to negotiations between the militant group and the Afghan

government has been delayed by a feud between Afghan politicians and disagreement between the Taliban and the government over the release of prisoners and a possible ceasefire as preconditions for talks. Mujahid said the fact the team was announced by the Afghan government “violated” its agreement with the United States and that not all sides had agreed to the team. “In order to reach true and lasting peace, the aforementioned team must be agreed upon by all effective Afghan sides so that it can represent all sides,” he said. Najia Anwari, spokeswoman for the Afghan ministry of peace affairs, said in response: “This team was made after wide consultation with different layers of the Afghan society.” President Ashraf Ghani’s political rival Abdullah Ab-

dullah has not yet confirmed whether he will support the delegation, a move diplomats say would be important given his camp’s strong influence in the country’s north and west. His spokesman on Friday declined to confirm or deny whether he would support the team. Abdullah’s spokesman and the US Embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday. Both men claim to be Afghanistan’s rightful leader after disputed September elections. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo failed to mediate between the two men to create an “inclusive” government during a day-long visit to Kabul on Monday, and announced a $1 billion cut in US aid to Afghanistan, which he said could be reversed.

PIA facing major bankruptcy risk, claims Bloomberg Pakistan International Airlines is facing a major risk of bankruptcy within the next two years as coronavirus pandemic batters global and domestic airlines across the world. The prediction was made by Bloomberg News using the Z-score method developed by Edward Altman in the 1960s to identify commercial airlines at risk of going bust. The calculations don’t take into account government bailouts or other funding sources that could help keep operators alive. The Z-score involves five variables measuring liquidity, solvency, profitability, leverage and recent performance. The model initially had accuracy rates of over 95% in predicting bankruptcies, but has come down to between 80% and 90% based on a year before insolvency, Altman said in a 2018 interview. A spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines Corp. told Bloomberg losses and debt have become too much for the company to handle alone and that options suggested to the government include a debtto-equity swap and long-term bond issue. Other potential airlines that are heading towards bankruptcy are AirAsia Indonesia, Nok Air, PNG Air, Kenya Airways, Spice Jet, Virgin Australia, Asiana, AirAsiaX, Avianca. While the list is concentrated in Asia, mostly due to high debt levels, European carriers aren’t immune, as the collapse of U.K. regional airline Flybe Group Plc proved. According to Altman, scores of 1.8 or below indicate a risk of bankruptcy and scores over 3 suggest sound footing. Indebted low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA and Air France-KLM both landed below the threshold, as did American Airlines Group Inc. and SkyWest Inc. NEWS DESK

Kabul gurdwara attacker identified as ISIS recruit from Kerala: Indian media The ISIS suicide bomber who attacked the Kabul Gurdwara on Wednesday has been identified as an Indian national, India Today reported. According to the publication, the militant outfit had named one of the three terrorists who attacked the Gurudwara Har Rai Sahib as Abu Khalid Al-Hindi. His photograph, holding a Type 56 assault rifle and pointing his finger up, was published by IS in its magazine, Al Naba, on Mar 26. However, citing sources, the publication claimed that the photograph was actually that of another Indian citizen, Muhammad Mohsin, 21, believed to have died in a drone strike in Afghanistan last year. At least 25 people died and 8 were wounded as a Sikh gurdwara Kabul was attacked by three ISIS terrorists, reportedly all Indian nationals, on Wednesday. The terrorists opened fire and lobbed grenades at around 200 worshippers in the complex. According to the Afghan government, local security forces ended the siege after a six-hour gun battle in which all three attackers were killed and 80 hostages were freed. NEWS DESK

Wuhan, where coronavirus emerged, begins to lift its lockdown WUHAN AGENCIES

The Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus outbreak first emerged, began lifting a two-month lockdown on Saturday by restarting some metro services and reopening borders, allowing some semblance of normality to return and families to reunite. After being cut-off from the rest of the country for two months, the reopening of Wuhan, where the epidemic first erupted in late December, marks a turning point in China’s fight against the virus, though the contagion has since spread to over 200 countries. Among those on the first high-speed trains allowed into the city on Saturday morning was Guo Liangkai, a 19-year-old student whose one-month work stint in Shanghai stretched to three months due to the clamp down on movement. “It makes me very happy that I can see my family,” Guo told Reuters after being greeted by his mother at the main station. “We wanted to hug but now is a special period so we can’t hug or take any actions like these.” Authorities took draconian measures to

stop people from entering or leaving the industrial city of 11 million people in central China. Families were confined to their homes. Bus and taxi services were shut, and only essential stores were allowed to remain open. “I think the resumption of work represents a kind of hope. It at least shows that China is victorious,” said Zhang Yulun, 35, returning to Wuhan for work. China’s National Health Commission said on Saturday that 54 new coronavirus cases were reported on the mainland on Friday, all involving so-called imported cases. Mainland China now has 81,394 cases, with the death toll rising by three to 3,295, the commission said. Wuhan accounts for about 60pc of China’s coronavirus cases, but they have fallen sharply in recent weeks, a sign that the measures are working. The last confirmed locally transmitted case of the virus in Wuhan was on Monday. With the United States, Italy and Spain and other countries now battling soaring infections, China is focusing on the risk posed by imported cases — most of them Chinese returning home. Effective Saturday, China suspended the

entry of foreign nationals with valid Chinese visas and residence permits. DISINFECTANTS AND MASKS: But even with the decline in cases and loosening of restrictions, Wuhan authorities were taking few chances. Staff, some in full-body protective gear, and volunteers bustled around the railway station in the morning, setting out hand dis-

infectant and putting up signs reminding travellers they need a mobile-phone based health code to take public transport. A worker walked through one metro train carrying a signboard reading: “Wear a mask for the entire journey, people should not gather and when you disembark please scan the health code.” “Everyone is taking the right precau-

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad. Ph: 051-2204545. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

tions. So, there shouldn’t be a problem,” Yuan Hai, 30, a passenger on a reopened metro line said when asked about the risks. “But you have to be careful.” The existence of an unknown number of asymptomatic carriers of coronavirus in China has raised concerns among the public that lifting the restrictions may release thousands of people who could still be spreading the virus that causes Covid-19, without knowing they are sick. Life in Wuhan remains far from normal. The vast majority of shops are shut while bright yellow roadblocks remain. Wuhan will not let people leave the city until April 8. Some people at the railway station, such as a woman who only gave her surname as Zhang, said they were there to see if there was any chance people could leave earlier. Her grandson came to visit her for the week-long Lunar New Year holiday in January and has been separated from his parents in the southern city of Shenzhen ever since. With schools there possibly reopening, she hopes he can get back soon. “He was supposed to leave on the fifth day (of the holiday) but has now been here for a few months,” she said.