Govt builds case to ease restrictions.

Byline: Ikram Junaidi

ISLAMABAD -- While the countrywide tally of coronavirus cases has more than doubled in less than two weeks, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar on Sunday said the pandemic could also result in closure of up to one million institutions, rendering 18 million people jobless and pushing up to 70m others below the poverty line in Pakistan.

The federal minister was quoting the figures predicted by different organisations and think tanks, during a media briefing held at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Covid-19.

The only option, for damage control, was to relax the restrictions/ lockdown, Mr Umar said, adding that the government would decide the fate of the restrictions in a meeting of the National Coordination Committee on Covid-19 scheduled for May 9.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases has crossed 20,000 mark with 459 deaths recorded across the country. In the past two days only, the deadly virus claimed at least 55 lives. Nearly two dozen deaths were being reported daily on an average, Mr Umar said, adding that initially the daily average was two deaths.

However, the minister said, 'We are living in a region which is blessed for unknown reason. If we compare number of deaths in the first 46 days of the disease, after attaining 100 cases, 414 persons per million population died in Spain, 305 in Italy, 256 in France, 248 in the UK and 106 persons per million population died in the US.'

In Pakistan only two persons and in India only one person per million population died in the first 46 days after attaining the figure of 100 cases, he said, adding that the reason could be hot weather, BCG vaccine or being located in malaria belt.

At this average around 720 people would die in a month across the country, where 4,800 people died in traffic accidents every month but road traffic was not banned due to fatal accidents, Mr Umar said to build his point that restrictions should be relaxed.

The federal minister said that as compared to March, the...