Sindh CM didn't announce lifting lockdown from Monday, Bilawal clarifies.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has refuted media reports that quoted Sindh Chief Syed Minister Murad Ali Shah as saying that lockdown imposed to curb spread of Covid-19 would be lifted across the province from Monday.

'Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has categorically said that Sindh was not ending the lockdown on Monday and 'we are entering the second phase of lockdown with some extra restrictions, particularly at hotspots,' the PPP chief wrote on his official Twitter handle on Friday.

'In a statement issued from the CM House, the chief minister said that some media channels were giving the impression that the lockdown was ending on Monday, which was totally wrong. CM said 'we are entering phase-II under which stricter controls at hotspots were being initiated',' he clarified in a series of tweets.

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The statement came a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that the National Coordination Committee (NCC) with the consensus of all provincial governments had decided to end the coronavirus-induced lockdown in different phases starting from May 9.

Under the second phase, Bilawal said, 'minor exemptions will be given to some sectors such as construction phase-2, and isolated shops in neighbourhoods would be allowed to operate under standard operating procedures issued By: the government'.

'He [Sindh CM] categorically added that air, train and public transport would continue to remain closed.'

Earlier in the day, while addressing a press conference in Karachi, CM Shah had said Sindh is on board with the federal government's plan to ease...