ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Pir Noor-ul-Haq Qadri has said that mosques won’t be shut down across the Country; however, the mosques administrations and a limited number of people would perform group prayers including the Friday prayers at religious places.
The minister said that the decision to this regard was made in the fifth meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) for COVID-19 held in Islamabad on Thursday with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Chair to discuss the situation arising out of Coronavirus as well as the steps taken so far to curtail its spread.
Noor-ul-Haq Qadri said that all decisions were made in the NCC meeting in the light of decrees issued by Ulema belonging to different Schools of Thought.
The minister said that they won’t let the mosques be sealed; rather, recitations of the Holy Quran and other religious rituals will be held at mosques.
The minister for religious affairs said that all Classes, Examinations and Programs have been postponed in Madaris (religious seminaries) in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak. He asked Ulema to instruct the people to offer prayers at home.
The Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Lt General Muhammad Afzal said that the number of beds at Intensive Care Units (ICUs) has crossed 19,000 while nearly 30,000 medical staff are working at ICUs whom safety kits will be provided by April 5.
Lt General Muhammad Afzal said that right now, there are 154,000 medical staff members in Pakistan. He further said that from April 10 to 15, the number of imported ventilators will reach 1,000 while there are now only 61 out-of-order ventilators that are being repaired.
The Chairman NDMA said that earlier there were 450 out-of-order ventilators in the Country but 389 of them have now been repaired.
Furthermore, he said that the process of disinfecting Coronavirus-affected areas will be initiated from Bhara Kahu on Friday. He said that those areas wherein a substantial number of Cases have been detected will be disinfected with chemicals.
In his remarks, the Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Reforms Asad Umar said that Prime Minister Imran Khan will make major announcements tomorrow or day after tomorrow especially with regard to volunteers and financial assistance.
