The PML-N on Tuesday called for closing the borders and the flight operations at airports, as it criticised the government for, what it called, the inability to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Addressing a press conference, PML-N senior leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday said there was no example in history of what had happened at the Taftan border, as the government failed miserably in border management.

Calling for a plan to defeat the pandemic, Abbasi said the government did not have any solution, warning the situation was worsening with each passing moment and coronavirus had started affecting the people.

He said the government had not even admitted yet that there was a crisis in the country.

Mentioning that the people affected by the virus had come from Iran, Abbasi – who was accompanied by Ahsan Iqbal and Rana Sanaullah – said timely steps would have helped to avert the current state of affairs.

He said the government ministers’ statements on TV and the ground realities were totally different.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Imran Khan, the PML-N leader said the health minister – a portfolio held by Imran – did not come to the House to explain the situation.

Provinces do not deal with a pandemic-like situation, he said, while calling for a joint coordinated plan at the federal level.

He said the prime minister should put his house in order, as it was his job to formulate a strategy and move forward while taking the country along him.

The government should have launched a public awareness campaign from the very beginning, said Abbasi who stressed the need for starting the drive right now.

Citing the example of former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif, he said Shehbaz had controlled the dengue virus during his time in the government through effective steps. The incumbent government does not what to do, he remarked.

Shehbaz would have controlled the situation in Punjab, he predicted, adding that the current chief minister, Usman Buzdar, did not have the capacity or the capability to do so.

Abbasi said the government should have taken media into confidence to create awareness about the coronavirus, but instead it arrested Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman – the editor-in-chief of Geo/Jang Group.