Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Major General Babar Iftikhar Friday said the country could not afford an indefinite lockdown.

He was speaking at a press conference alongside Special Assistant to PM on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan. “We will have to keep our essential services functioning as well,” he maintained.

Major General Babar Iftikhar paid a rich tribute to doctors and other health care providers fighting on the frontline in the war against coronavirus.

The spokesperson for the Pakistan Army said that coronavirus pandemic had changed the global scenario altogether and that the Pakistani media and religious figures were also playing a critical role in the war against the virus.

He said this was the first time the world was facing a pandemic like coronavirus and there was a need to rise above race and colour to fight this disease.

He said that cooperation of people with the state would play an important role in the prevailing situation. He said the armed forces of Pakistan were extending their full cooperation to the federal and provincial government in the fight against coronavirus.