Pakistan PM urges WHO to 'play its role' in lifting travel restrictions

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday urged the WHO to "play its role" in engaging member states to remove coronavirus-related travel restrictions for Pakistan.

During a video call with World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom, Khan said the travel restrictions imposed by developed countries in the wake of Covid-19 can further exacerbate economic difficulties of developing nations struggling to mitigate the adverse economic impact of the pandemic, the prime minister's office said in a statement.

Khan urged the global health agency to "play its role in engaging member states to remove Covid-19 related travel restrictions for Pakistan and other developing countries and to work towards a data driven system of non-discriminatory travel rules".

According to the statement, Adhanom said the WHO was working on coronavirus-related travel guidelines to help the international community.

The WHO chief also appreciated the steps taken by the Pakistan government to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's coronavirus cases on Monday reached 231,818 with the detection of 3,344 new infections in the last 24 hours. The virus also claimed 50 more lives, taking the death toll to 4,762, the health ministry said.

Pakistan's health minister Dr Zafar Mirza on Monday said he was tested positive for Covid-19, becoming the latest senior minister in the country to be hit by the deadly virus.

On Friday, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said he has tested positive for the coronavirus and quarantined himself.

Several Pakistani lawmakers contracted the deadly virus and some of them have also died.

Prominent political leaders who have contracted the virus so far include National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, PPP leader Saeed Ghani and Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid, all of whom have recovered.

Former Balochistan governor Syed Fazal Agha, PTI Punjab lawmaker Shaheen Raza, Sindh Minister for Human Settlements Ghulam Murtaza Baloch, lawmaker Munir Khan Orakzai and PTI's Mian Jamshedud Din Kakakhel are among politicians who died after contracting the virus.