Amid the ongoing fears related to novel Coronavirus, people are practising social distancing and trying to stay indoors for the maximum amount of time.
However, former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar on Monday (March 23) pointed out that this is not the case in his country.
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In Pakistan, around 900 COVID-19 positive cases have been reported while five people have lost their lives thus far. But Akhtar has revealed that people are not taking this virus seriously and continue to roam around the streets freely.
“I went outside for some really important work today. I did not shake hands with anyone or hugged anyone. The windows of my car were closed the entire time and I came back home as soon as possible. But I noticed a very worrying trend outside. I saw 4 guys travelling on one bike, they were going for a picnic. People are having food together outside, travelling to other places. Why are restaurants still open, why are we not closing them,” Shoaib said in a video posted on his YouTube channel.
“In India, people have embraced a curfew. But here in Pakistan, we can’t stop travelling. 90% of cases are due to human contact but we are not ready to stay at home. What are we doing? This is dangerous, it’s like playing with the lives of people,” he added.
The Rawalpindi Express also requested the Pakistan government to impose a lockdown in the country to contain the spread of Coronavirus.
“We are failing to understand that this (coronavirus) is a huge threat. Don’t believe in myths that this virus will not spread in the summer or not infect young people. People are roaming around freely, what is the need to go outside,” said Akhtar.
“I request Pakistan government to take strong action and impose a lockdown. Please lockdown the cities. Italy made a huge mistake by not imposing lockdown early. People are dying there every day. I request Pakistan government to give time slot to people to buy all the necessary items like groceries and impose a lockdown. Sorry to say but people in Pakistan are not listening, they are out there having picnics and celebrating,” he further remarked.
Last week, Akhtar had lambasted Peshawar Zalmi owner Javed Afridi for wanting to continue the PSL 2020 despite the COVID-19 outbreak.
The fifth edition of Pakistan Super League got indefinitely postponed on the day of the semi-final clashes as the pandemic gripped various regions of the country.
“One of the team owners is still saying that these remaining matches should also have taken place. Imagine if this outbreak had spread in the stadium, be it Karachi or Lahore,” Shoaib was quoted as saying by ProPakistani.pk.
“Honestly, it was a stupid mistake by the PCB to continue the league. Also I’m pretty sure that they would have kept it running if the case had not emerged. PCB was late about six days with regards to suspension of the league. Putting people at risk was not a sensible thing to do,” he added.
