ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday said that the COVID-19 has badly affected the economy of the world.
In a statement, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said, “This coronavirus pandemic will also increase pressure on our country’s economy as it has already halted the economic activity and reduced Pakistan’s exports.”
The foreign minister announced that Pakistan has increased its testing capacity for coronavirus. “We earlier tested the capacity of three thousand but it will reach twenty to thirty thousand by the next month,” he asserted.
“Screening is being done at the airports and quarantine facilities have also been expanded there,” he assured. Qureshi earlier on Wednesday said that the country needed to strike a balance between COVID-19 and hunger as the nation is fighting on two ends.
He also predicted that the rise of coronavirus cases in Pakistan is expected in the near future. “We are expecting a rise in coronavirus cases in May and June,” he said.
The foreign minister said that we should be ready to face any sort of undesirable circumstances as peak has not passed in the country as yet. Qureshi further said that the government cannot afford a permanent lockdown.
Read more: Nation cannot sustain prolonged lockdown: FM Qureshi
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