Rise in COVID-19 cases due to absence of strategy: Shehbaz Sharif

LAHORE: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif has blamed that the Centre does not have a strategy in place to deal with the pandemic.

In a statement Shehbaz Sharif said that Punjab would face a big disaster if immediate action was not taken against the rising numbers of the COVID-19 patients.

“Had there been a strategy in place at the time of the imposition of lockdown or when the decision was taken to lift it, the number of COVID-19 cases in the country would not have augmented at such a rapid rate, said Shehbaz Sharif.

While showing concern about the rising numbers of the coronavirus cases in Punjab, he said that notice should be taken over the matter. He maintained that tests at a large scale and quarantine centres were the only solutions to the coronavirus epidemic.

The former Punjab chief minister called on the government to “not waste more time” in creating an effective national strategy to cope with the coronavirus.

“The nation should be informed about the testing data and what strategy is in place to stem the spread of the coronavirus,” he said.

The statement from Shehbaz came at a time when the number of COVID-19 cases in the province crossed 57,000 and more than 1,100 people died in Pakistan.