Provincial Governments Keen to Curb Coronavirus with Preventive Measures
Late yesterday night (Wednesday) Pakistan reported its first two deaths due to novel Coronavirus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and provincial governments that had already been taking swift measures to contain the spread of the disease, are now making a further plan of actions. In the latest development, government officials in all four provinces have been sent on complete or partial work-from-home arrangements.
Shutting down 25 of its departments completely, the Sindh government issued a notification on Thursday to put in place Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act.
“In pursuance of the Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act 2014, the government of Sindh has decided to close the following departments offices, autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies, corporation of these departments under the administrative control of the government of Sindh through the province with effect from March 19 to April 3,” Express Tribune quoted a notification issued by the Murad Ali Shah government.
Read more: 3 more coronavirus cases reported in Karachi, tally hits 211 in Sindh
On the other hand, the Punjab government has put in place special measures of work-from-home through which government officials will be coordinating via online services and meetings will be conducted through Skype business account set up by PITB.
KPK government has also set in place special instructions during the outbreak. Restricting the public’s entry to the secretariat and other government buildings and reducing working hours, the government is trying to maintain social distance. In addition, the KP government has also instructed to not gather more than 5 government officials for a meeting and any meeting exceeding the limit to be done via Skype.
Balochistan government and Azad Jammu and Kashmir are yet to take drastic measures for the government employees. As of now, Balochistan’s CM Jam Jamal Khan has resorted to appealing the public to avoid crowded places and unnecessary stepping out of their homes.
