Millions return to work as virus cases continue to spike.

ISLAMABAD -- As government partially lifted the lockdown after more than one and a half month on Monday, Prime Minister Imran Khan said the lockdown restrictions were eased in phases keeping in view Pakistan's economic condition, the people's problems and the situation of other countries, so that a balance between economic activities and protection measures could be maintained.

He said there was a growing realization of the fact internationally that lockdown was a temporary action against the coronavirus, however, protective measures should not in any way be neglected. The prime minister expressed the views while chairing a high-level meeting here on the COVID-19 situation.

The meeting was attended by federal ministers Hammad Azhar, Asad Umar and Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, advisors Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Abdul Razak Dawood, special assistants Lt. Gen. A(r) Asim Saleem Bajwa, Dr Zafar Mirza and Dr Moeed Yusuf, and senior officers.

The prime minister said reservations about the coronavirus tests in some sections should be removed and the masses be encouraged to go for testing on their own in case of having any symptoms of the disease. The people should be informed about the self-quarantine at homes so that they could adopt the home-quarantine methods, he added.

During the meeting, the prime minister was briefed in detail about the current situation of coronavirus. The meeting reviewed the situation regarding the confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country and the provision of health facilities to the affected. It also discussed the provision of protective materials to doctors and medical staff, and other facilities for them. Talking about the present situation of ventilators in the country, the prime minister directed to formulate a comprehensive policy for easy availability of ventilators and their best utilization so that such facility could be easily made available in case of any emergency.

On the other hand, the virus infections reached 30,941 with 1,476 new cases reported during last 24 hours. While sharing the data, an official of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Coronavirus said on Monday that the total 667 deaths had been reported from the disease with 28 reported during last 24 hours.

He said that 8,212 patients had been recovered. He added total 294,894 tests had been conducted while in last 24 hours 11,367 tests were conducted. He said 11,480 cases were reported from Sindh, 11,568 from Punjab, 4,669 from Khyber...