Sindh CM hints at a two-week lockdown in the province

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah hinted on Thursday at a two-week lockdown in the province to contain the third wave of coronavirus infections.

The Sindh chief minister had also proposed a two-week lockdown in the province in a National Coordination Committee meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan. But the federal authorities didn’t endorse the recommendation.

CM Shah said on Thursday that the suggestion wasn’t rejected by the prime minister. Sindh remained safer than other provinces because it suspended buses, trains and planes last year, he told reporters in Karachi.

The chief minister said he has summoned a meeting of the provincial taskforce on coronavirus Friday.

The provincial government would make its own decision, if the National Command and Operation Centre didn’t suspend public transport, he said.

Pakistan has been battling a third wave of coronavirus. PM Khan described it as “more dangerous” than the previous two in a message to the nation a few days ago.

The virus has so far claimed 14,530 lives in Pakistan. Of them, 4,502 deaths were reported in Sindh alone.

PM Khan, however, believes that the country doesn’t have enough resources to manage a complete lockdown.

“We can’t close the country,” PM Khan said on March 28. “We can’t impose a lockdown because we don’t have the resources to provide people food and take care of them.”

Even rich countries don’t have such resources, he added.