Federal government March 2020 The national carrier,
PIA decided to suspend the flight operation between Pakistan and China till 30 January due to the outbreak. After confirmed reports of hundreds of cases in neighbouring China, the
Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) introduced screening measures at four major airports:
Islamabad,
Karachi,
Lahore and
Peshawar for every passenger arriving from China. Screening was also started for domestic travellers at Karachi's airport on 21 March. On 13 March, President
Dr. Arif Alvi in a special tweet, advised the public to avoid participation in mass gatherings, handshaking or hugging in addition to taking other precautionary measures if they observe symptoms of flu or coronavirus infection. Pakistan also stopped all international flights, except those at
Islamabad,
Karachi and
Lahore airports on the day. It was also decided on 13 March at the
National Security Council meeting with Prime Minister
Imran Khan that all schools and universities would be closed until 5 April. However, the faculty and staff will go to work as usual. The lectures and classes will be held online in some institutions i.e., Riphah International University, FAST NUCES University, Institute of Space Technology. The
Pakistan Day Parade, scheduled to be held on 23 March was also cancelled along with all public events and proceedings of the
Senate were postponed for two weeks on the day. Pakistan closed its borders to travellers from
Afghanistan at the
Chaman border from 2 until 21 March. The border was only partially reopened later after 21 March for transportation of food items while pedestrian movement remained suspended. The
Durand Line border was sealed from 16 March for at least two weeks. The same time period also applied to
the land border with Iran after reopening it on 7 March from a previous closure. All land borders, including the
China-Pakistan border with China were shut from 16 March. Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal, the
NDMA chairman, announced that the government was working on securing more PPEs and other resources for healthcare workers on 20 March. This led to many citizens being stranded in the Middle East,
Thailand and
Malaysia. The Railways Minister
Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed declared the suspension of 42 trains. The
health ministry announced that 14 metric tonnes of PPE, "including face masks, thermometers, gloves [and] gowns", had been dispatched to Pakistan on 22 March. On 23 March, the nation celebrated
Pakistan Day without any public gatherings or a military parade. Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Dr. Arif Alvi urged the nation to demonstrate unity, discipline and passion in fighting the coronavirus pandemic. The PM also stated that a complete lockdown of the country was not feasible as 25% of the population lives below the poverty line and would make their lives miserable. The government has over 35 hospitals across the country set up to deal with the outbreak, equipped with more than 118,000 beds as of the day. On 24 March, the Chief of the Army Staff General
Qamar Javed Bajwa ordered the deployment of troops nationwide and military's medical resources to fight the ongoing outbreak alongside the national health infrastructure after the Ministry of Interior approved the action on the previous day. The Ministry had received requests in this regard from the provincial governments over the past two days amid surging number of patients. The
State Bank of Pakistan issued a statement the same day declaring that it would be providing disinfected cash to all banks for circulation while ensuring to "clean, disinfect, seal and quarantine all cash being collected from hospitals and clinics and to block circulation of such cash in the market." It was further assured that banks could re-issue cash which remained in quarantine for 15 days and all ATMs as well as call centres and helplines would be running 24/7. Banks could close branches only if a staff member tested positive for the virus or "where requisite human resources [were] not available" to avoid congestion as it would be counterproductive to
social distancing. The federal capital territory of Islamabad was placed under virtual lockdown starting on 24 March. On 26 March, Pakistan decided to seek $3.7 billion additional financing from three multilateral creditors including another loan of $1.4 billion from the
International Monetary Fund to cope with the challenges being posed by the novel coronavirus outbreak. Adviser to the PM on Finance Dr
Abdul Hafeez Shaikh announced at a news conference that the
World Bank and the
Asian Development Bank would also extend loans of $1 billion and $1.25 billion respectively to the country. The PM announced the formation of a youth force labelled 'Corona Relief Tigers' to help the government in the fight against the spread of coronavirus nationwide on 27 March. The force was distributed across the country and would be used to supply food items to people in their houses in case COVID-19 cases sharply rose in a locality. The recruitment began on 31 March. Due to various lockdowns imposed by the regional governments, the goods transport system came to a halt in later March. Thus, the federal government decided on 29 March that highways and roads across the country would remain open to ensure the transportation of goods and also increased the number of freight trains to avert a shortage of food and other essential supplies. Chairing a meeting, the Prime Minister asked the provincial governments to take strict action against hoarders and profiteers who were trying to exploit the ongoing crisis. By late March, many regions in Pakistan had considered releasing under-trial prisoners to curb the outbreak in jails. However, on 30 March, the
Supreme Court prohibited high courts and federal and provincial governments from passing any order regarding the release of under-trial prisoners. Also on 30 March, the State Minister for Health, Dr
Zafar Mirza announced that the Higher Education Commission (HEC) was inviting proposals from researchers, scientists, technicians, manufacturers and other experts that could assist the government in its fight against COVID-19, adding that the commission would provide generous funding to prospective researchers if their ideas are accepted. Meanwhile, the Lt. Gen. Afzal said that Sindh had been provided 20,000 testing kits, Punjab 5,000, Balochistan 4,800 and that up to 37,000 kits had been put into reserve. The Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination Dr.
Fehmida Mirza announced to create a fund to cover all medical expenses of sports persons infected with COVID-19 on that day. On 2 April, the Federal Minister for Planning and Development
Asad Umar announced that the country was extending the ongoing lockdown for another two weeks until 14 April to curb the spread of the pandemic in the country. On 24 April, the federal government once again extended the lockdown in the country until 9 May. However, permission was granted under the leadership of the President,
Arif Alvi in consultation with the
ulama and state representatives for Mosque congregations.
Economic Relief Package On 24 March, the Prime Minister approved a Rs 1.2 trillion economic relief package. Of this, a total of Rs 150 billion was allotted for low-income groups, particularly labourers while 280 billion rupees ($1.76 billion) was assigned for wheat procurement. Loan interest payments for exporters were deferred temporarily, while a package of 100 billion rupees ($63 million) was provided to support small industries and the agriculture sector. There was also a significant deduction in petroleum prices and the public couple pay electricity and gas bills below a certain amount in instalments. Under the package the monthly stipend of the
Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) was increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000. It was decided that the funds of the government's Ehsaas programme would be distributed among the poor according to the available data of the BISP and through the under progress National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER) of the BISP. The total number of BISP beneficiaries was 5.2 million but the number was increased under the package. The relief package also included a special package for healthcare professionals. According to which, if a doctor or a paramedic died while treating coronavirus patients, they would be considered martyrs and their families would receive the package that is given to martyrs. Since its launch, a total of Rs 22.466 billion has been disbursed among 1.77 million individuals as of mid April.
Regional governments Punjab The
Government of Punjab declared a health emergency on 12 March in a cabinet meeting. A quarantine facility was established in the
Dera Ghazi Khan district for the pilgrims returning from
Iran. Despite this, local media reported that many residents in Lahore had failed to practice the measures and downright defied it by opening up businesses and gathering in large numbers on various public grounds. This led to the local police and city administration to forcibly vacate them. On 23 March, The Chief Minister announced a 14 days lockdown from 24 March until 6 April. All markets, shopping malls and public places were closed and
pillion riding was banned. He also stated that a 1,000-bed hospital would be set up in
Lahore while five other hospitals were designated for coronavirus patients across the province the next day on 23 March while the local government and rescue services started disinfecting towns and cities. Public bus services were also temporarily suspended to disinfect all buses and stations. The Secretary Home Department of Punjab wrote a letter one day to the
Ministry of Interior seeking the assistance of the military under Article 245. Also on the day, more than 150 pilgrims arrived in
Faisalabad from Iran via the Taftan border to be quarantined at a centre. More arrangements were made to quarantine another 450 pilgrims returning at a centre established in the campus of the
Agricultural University. The government established the largest quarantine centre in the nation in
Multan at Multan Industrial Estate to isolate the returning pilgrims with 3000 rooms. It had 1,247 pilgrims in quarantine as of the day. A companion 50-bed hospital was also set up to aid the centre. The provincial government decided to close down the regional motorways except for private vehicles with up to two passengers as a preventive measure on 26 March. The NIH initiated district level training of
high-dependency unit, isolation and quarantine staff across the province on 27 March. The government also decided to remove provincial taxes to the tune of Rs 18bn. The CM said that the Punjab government had decided to grant a 90-day imprisonment rebate to prisoners in jails across the province which would benefit some 3,100 prisoners. Furthermore, the Punjab Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control Ordinance, 2020, was implemented to allow the civil administration and health department to implement government measures with complete ease and under the cover of law. It was also declared that the government would provide a month's additional salary to all healthcare workers across Punjab. The Punjab Minister for Finance Hashim Jawan Bakht said that the economic package would also help the health sector and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) cope with the crisis with an immediate funding of Rs 11.5 billion. To aid the medical professionals, a textile owner from Lahore offered to manufacture PPE voluntarily and free of cost. Also in the meeting, the CM stated that laboratories around the province would test 3,200 people every day for coronavirus and 10,000 doctors and paramedics were being recruited to fight the pandemic. Starting from 2 April, the lockdown in the province was extended until 14 April as per directions by the federal government. By early April, the province suspended regular prayer services in places of worship to stop the spread of COVID-19. Punjab Chief Secretary,
Azam Suleman Khan relayed to media on 6 April that field hospitals for coronavirus patients were being established across the province and two of these would be functional in
Rawalpindi and
Jhelum in the next three days. On 8 April, the Lahore District Jail Superintendent urged authorities to not send any new inmates to the prison after 49 positive cases emerged there in addition to over 150 suspects. On 10 April, the Punjab Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Social Welfare
Muhammad Basharat Raja stated that a transfer plan had been made to shift 3,500 prisoners from overcrowded jails to others to curb the spread of coronavirus in prisons of the province. Also on the day, the provincial Information Minister,
Fayyazul Hassan Chohan declared a relief package for media workers and personnel. Under the package, the government would pay Rs 1 million to any journalist who died due to COVID-19 while his widow would get Rs 10,000 as monthly pension for life. Rs 100,000 would also be provided to any media worker diagnosed with the coronavirus. At least 1,700 pilgrims returning from Iran were quarantined at a centre in
Multan on 16 April.
Sindh on social distancing . On 1 March,
Chief Minister of Sindh,
Syed Murad Ali Shah, announced the closure of all educational institutes in Sindh until 13 March, which was later extended until 30 May. On 12 March,
the Government of Sindh also announced that the remaining
PSL matches at
National Stadium, Karachi would be held
behind closed doors. The Sindh government announced on 13 March that all educational institutions will remain closed until 30 May On 20 March, the
Pakistan Army helped set up a 10,000-bed field hospital at Karachi's
Expo Centre to isolate and treat confirmed patients. ALl expenses for its establishment were born by the provincial government. On 21 March, the Government of Sindh announced a lockdown in the province for 14 days from morning of 24 March, ordering all public transport, markets, offices, shopping malls, restaurants, and public areas to be shut down. The Sindh government announced paid leave for all workers during the lockdown, and said no would be laid off during the period under Section 3 of the Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act (2014) and other relevant labour laws. The province banned intra-city transport to minimise the outbreak and multiple violators were issued fines, impounded and cancelled. The
national army was called to enforce the lockdown. On 23 March, an isolation and quarantine centre was completed at the
Jinnah Postgraduate Medical College in Karachi which also provided free tests of suspected cases with results in 8 hours of sample submission. The local police detained 472 people in various districts of the province on the day, with 222 of them in Karachi alone and a total of
FIRs were registered. The cases pertained to hoarding and profiteering of safety masks and hand sanitisers, large gatherings, opening shops and restaurants and travelling in passenger buses. Multiple violations of the lockdown were observed in several places across the province such as gatherings on the beach, residents being out and major markets, shopping centres,
bazaars and restaurants remained open. As a result, a taskforce meeting led by the Chief Minister was held on the next day on 25 March to take more stringent measures to ensure that all residents abided by the government orders of. It was resolved that all grocery stores and shops apart from pharmacies and medical stores to remain closed between 8 pm and 8 am. The Sindh Inspector General of Police, Javed Ahmed Mahar was directed to make measures taken in connection with the lockdown and make certain that people were not allowed to roam freely in the city unnecessarily. Additionally, the Chief Secretary and Karachi Commissioner were ordered to ensure that big factories remained closed during the lockdown and direct banks to keep only important branches operational. On 25 March, the provincial health department officials began coronavirus case mapping as per directives by the Chief Minister. He further tasked them with sharing the data with deputy commissioners so necessary measures could be taken to contain the outbreak in their respective areas. Orders were also given to improve sampling arrangements, upon which 18 vehicles of the Indus Hospital were dedicated for collecting samples from homes. The health officials briefed the Chief Minister about a new machine made at the
Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, which could test secretions from the nose instead of testing throat secretion as was the current procedure. At this, the CM directed the provincial Chief Secretary to consult with medical experts whether procuring the machine would be feasible and if they deemed it to be beneficial, place an order for 100 machines. The CM further stated that he would request the federal government for a special aircraft to transport the machines if the government decided to procure them. Shortly afterward, reports emerged that rations were being denied to minority
Hindus and
Christians in the coastal areas of Karachi. The
Saylani Welfare Trust, carrying out the relief work, said that the aid was reserved for Muslims alone. On 14 April, the
US Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed concern with the discrimination. Other organisations, including
Edhi Foundation,
JDC Welfare Organization and
Jamaat-e-Islami are reported to have stepped forward to provide relief to the minorities. On 27 March, public holidays were extended until 5 April in the province while markets and shopping malls were to remain closed until 10 April. Ajmal Wazir, the adviser to the CM stated that the government had decided on tax exemption to facilitate the business community and protect jobs with Rs 17.5 billion reserved for wheat procurement. An amount of Rs 8 billion was also approved for district hospitals to enable them by the urgent supplies. To further enforce lockdown, the Sindh govt restricted movement between 8 am and 5 pm, while all grocery stores were ordered to be closed by 5 pm. These restrictions went into force on 28 March. Sindh Province also received 500,000 K
N95 masks from China. On 30 March, the Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah made public a mobile application, namely the Sindh Relief Initiative, on which welfare organisations could register to work with the provincial government for the distribution of ration among daily-wagers at their doorstep. Also on the day, the Mayor of Karachi,
Wasim Akhtar designated five cemeteries in the city for burials of those who died due to coronavirus. He said that only a few close relatives of the deceased could enter the cemetery for burial, adding that the body would be brought into the cemetery with protective measures and no last sighting would be allowed. The mayor also wrote to the National Disaster Management Authority, the provincial government and the Governor
Imran Ismail requesting funds to provide essential equipment and ventilators to Karachi Metropolitan Corporation hospitals. The Sindh government issued a circular directing private schools across the province to pay full salaries to its teachers on time the same day. Another directive was also declared for factories and other private entities operating in the province to disburse salaries to their employees by 31 March. On 2 April, the Sindh government extended the lockdown until 14 April. It also announced new restrictions, closing down shrines and other holy sites while suspending inter and intra-city public transport. There was also a restriction on from movement of people from 5:00 pm to 08:00 am except for armed forces personnel, doctors and health professionals, persons requiring immediate medical care and persons on goods transport. On 30 July 2021, Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah imposed an 8-day partial lockdown in Karachi, the largest city of Sindh to combat the 4th wave of COVID-19 in the city. All non essential shops, educational institutes were closed and dine in/dine out/takeaways were also not allowed in the restaurants. The Federal minister for information & broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry criticised the lockdown measures calling it "an attack on the economy". On 8 August, the Sindh Government ended the lockdown and introduced new restrictions which were far more lenient than the previous one. On Wednesday 30 June 2022, the Sindh government recorded a COVID-19 Positivity Ratio of 5.4 percent. There has been an increase in reported cases in Karachi, where 4,582 tests were conducted across the province in the past 24 hours out of which 248 persons were tested positive for COVID-19. There are 2,947 active coronavirus cases in the province.
Balochistan The
Balochistan Government constituted a 14-member technical committee in late January to tackle the outbreak. All schools have been closed until 31 March. Balochistan Minister Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind stated that "action will be taken against schools that do not comply with the decision". Matric exams have also been postponed. The province like others also requested for the army to be deployed. A state of emergency was imposed in five districts which bordered Iran on 24 March. Provincial Finance Minister, Zahoor Buledi announced on 8 April that a tax relief of Rs 1.5 billion would be given during the lockdown.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The
provincial government has closed all educational institutes until 5 April and postponed all public gatherings until further notice as a preventive measure. The province announced a partial lockdown for three days on 23 March. On 24 March, the
Peshawar High Court decided to shut down all courts in the province until 28 March. Only essential staff were allowed to come to courts with no more than one official in the office. On 27 March, screening teams were deputed at all district entry and exit points for screening of visitors of COVID-19 patients. On 29 March, the government approved a Rs 32 billion stimulus economic package to provide relief to the masses and the business community amid the coronavirus crisis. Provincial Information Minister Ajmal Wazir, announced at a press conference that the relief package include Rs 11.4 billion benefiting 1.9 million deserving families, Rs 3,000 would be given under the Ehsaas programme and Rs 2,000 by the KP government. He added that the business community had also been exempted from taxes worth Rs 5 billion and the provincial government had ramped up its testing capacity with 500 new diagnostics kits. Equipment and supplies including oxygen concentrators, cardiac monitors, infusion pumps, dialysis catheter and other PPE were distributed among all districts of the province on 30 March. An additional 20,000 testing kits were also provided in early April. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) traders' association Sarhad Chamber of Commerce (SCC), were not same page with the government, on one hand was concerned despite business losses on account of lock down other arm of the government cutting electricity supplies on the other hand trading associations not willing to co-operate government's lockdown timing restrictions during Ramzan to recoup their losses.
Gilgit-Baltistan On 12 March, the region's
Government declared medical emergency in the province after more cases of were reported. Educational institutes were further closed until 5 April as a preventive measure. On 27 March, the Chinese government handed medical equipments and 10 tonnes of other goods to the Gilgit-Baltistan government to help it fight COVID-19. The equipment included 5 ventilators, 2,000 N95 masks, 200,000 face masks, 2,000 testing kits and medical protective kits. The same day, the government decided that all suspected travellers coming from the Taftan border would be tested for COVID-19.
Azad Kashmir On 14 March, the local
Government declared a health emergency after a meeting of the
National Security Council. It also announced closure of educational institutions until 6 April and secondary examinations were postponed. AJK Prime Minister
Raja Farooq Haider also stated that screening mechanisms were installed at all 11 points of entry while quarantine facilities were being established in all 10 districts. On 21 March, a suspension of all inter-provincial transport for three days was imposed. No public transport vehicles were allowed to either enter or leave the province. It warned that violators would be punished under the Epidemic Diseases Act. On 23 March, The AJK Prime Minister announced a 3-week lockdown for the region. Movement was restricted and special passes were issued for journalists and people travelling under inevitable circumstances while only one person from each family was allowed to go out to get food essentials. Two virology labs at Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences in Muzaffarabad started PCR testing for COVID-19 on 30 March. The local Union Council in the Bhara Kahu region was sealed after 11 suspected cases emerged from there on 23 March. On 25 March, the national government shut the outpatient departments of hospitals in the capital territory to stem the spread of the virus, only the emergency services remained optional. The capital's Deputy Commissioner, Hamza Shafqat issued a notification declaring 'a complete ban on intra-city, inter-district and inter-province movement of people by public transport. However, the metro bus service will be functional but at a distance of one seat between passengers.' Furthermore, gatherings of all kinds at public and private places were banned no one was allowed to move out of their respective union councils. Starting from 2 April, the lockdown in the region was extended until 14 April as per directions by the federal government. ==Impact==