Stark choice of balancing lockdown, people don’t die of hunger: PM

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said the Subcontinent was facing the stark choice of having to balance between a lockdown and ensuring the people did not die of hunger amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a series of tweets, Imran mentioned the high poverty rate in the Subcontinent and the importance of lockdown to prevent or slow down the coronavirus spread and the need to stop the economic collapse.

In the subcontinent, with a high rate of poverty, we are faced with the stark choice of having to balance between a lockdown necessary to slow down/prevent the spread of COVID19 & ensuring people don't die of hunger & our economy doesn't collapse. So we are walking a tightrope.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 4, 2020

About the steps taken by the government, the prime minister said educational institutions, shopping malls, marriage halls, restaurants and other public places had been locked down.

But, he added, they had kept the agriculture sector open to stop the devastation of the lockdown and “now we are opening up our construction sector”.