Can't lock up 220 million people: Pak PM amid coronavirus spread

Despite continuous surge in coronavirus cases, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has reiterated that the government cannot 'lock up 220 million people' through a harsh curfew to control the spread of COVID-19.

In a briefing to journalists, Prime Minister Khan said the country has to find a balance between "corona and hunger," reported Dawn.

The coronavirus cases in Pakistan have reached 2,500. As many as 40 people have died due to the coronavirus in the country.

Punjab on Friday became the first province to surpass 1,000 cases mark of coronavirus, with 57 people tested positive for the coronavirus.

Reports of the lack of adequate screening procedures and squalid living conditions at the quarantine camps at the Taftan border crossing with Iran have raised concerns about the surge in the number of infections.

The first coronavirus was reported on February 26. As per Pakistani media, the initial cases were pilgrims from Iran, especially those who returned after crossing the border at Taftan.

Social media users have made allusions to coronavirus as the "Shi'a virus," given fears of its spread by pilgrims returning from Iran.

This isolation and further stigmatization of the Hazara minority could limit their ability to receive proper medical care as the coronavirus continues to spread within Pakistan and stretches its public health infrastructure.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Tuesday accused the Balochistan provincial government of "scapegoating" the already vulnerable Hazara Shi'a community for this public health crisis.