Pakistan PM Imran Khan begs for debt waiver as coronavirus cases rise

Image courtesy: Reuters

New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday (March 17) sought a debt waiver for countries witnessing a rise in coronavirus cases. 

Imran Khan took to Twitter to express his concern over poverty and hunger in wake of the outbreak of the deadly virus and said, "Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI expresses his concern over poverty and hunger as a consequence of the Corona Pandemic. Moreover, he urges the world community to think of some sort of debt-off for vulnerable countries."

Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI expresses his concern over poverty and hunger as a consequence of the Corona Pandemic. Moreover, he urges the world community to think of some sort of debt-off for vulnerable countries.pic.twitter.com/FG6ZDT5h99 — Prime Minister's Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) March 17, 2020

On Tuesday, Pakistan confirmed that COVID-19 cases had more than doubled for a second straight day, largely due to errors made in the testing and quarantine of travellers who recently returned from Iran via a land border crossing.

So far, the total coronavirus cases in Pakistan stand at 195 sparking concerns the mistakes could prove costly, as it attempts to control the rapid spread of the disease, said a Reuters report.

Thousands of Pakistanis, mostly pilgrims, have reportedly been put into quarantine in recent weeks at the Taftan border crossing in the western province of Balochistan after returning from Iran, one of the countries worst affected worldwide by the virus.

"It was not a quarantine, it was a joke, its trickle-down effect is coming down on the entire country. People were not kept there in the right manner," Murtaza Wahaba, a spokesman for the Sindh provincial government, told a local television channel, adding this had spread the virus to the provinces of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.