'We may have gone overboard with lockdown restrictions,' says Imran Ismail

KARACHI: Sindh governor Imran Ismail, while stressing on the need for easing restrictions, on Tuesday said "we may have gone overboard with the lockdown."

He said Pakistan's economic conditions are not such that would withstand a strict lockdown.

The governor's remarks come a day after he had tested positive for coronavirus.

He said that he had been experiencing COVID-19 symptoms two or three days ago but does not have symptoms any longer.

"All of my staff along with my family have been tested for coronavirus and their results are negative," Ismail said.

"Prime Minister Imran Khan is monitoring the measures being taken against the coronavirus pandemic [...] I feel we have gone overboard with the lockdown," he said.

He said that during Ramadan there were several people who do not ask for help and that the lockdown restrictions were affecting them. "We have to keep in mind their problems as well."

Ismail said that Sindh's testing capacity, as well as that of the country as a whole, is low.

The governor said that Pakistanis will have to learn to live along with the virus and that right now, the country needs a national consensus to tackle the pandemic.

The PTI-leader is currently in self-isolation after he tested positive for the virus.

Read more: Governor Sindh Imran Ismail tests positive for COVID-19

Before he went into self-isolation, the governor had spent 10 very busy days where he met a host of people and attended important meetings.

Ismail had a hectic schedule before contracting COVID-19

According to information released by the Governor House, Ismail held separate meetings with delegations of the Jewelers and Manufacturers Association and the Beauty Parlour Association on April 24. The beauticians’ delegation comprised Sabah Ansari, Nadia Hussain and NG Marshall.

On the same day, the governor attended an informal ceremony at a field isolation centre to donate 3,000 protective gear.

Two days before that, on April 22, Ismail spent a busy day in Hyderabad and Jamshoro along with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf leaders Haleem Adil Sheikh, Jamal Siddiqui, Sidra Imran and Bilal Ghafaz, where they were briefed by Deputy Commissioner Hyderabad Fawad Soomro and DG Ehsaas Programme.

On the same day, the Sindh governor visited an Ehsaas Center at a girls college in Kotri where he was given a briefing at the office of Deputy Commissioner Jamshoro.

He also attended a function in his honour in Matiari.

On April 21, Ismail met Karachi’s traders regarding their concerns on the resumption of businesses and later in the day a 25-member delegation of well-known industrialists called on him at the Governor’s House.

A day earlier on Aril 20, Ismail met with a delegation of Anjuman-e-Tajiran Sindh and later visited Faizan Madina, a religious school in city’s old Sabzi Mandi area. On the same day, Governor Ismail also participated in a PM Office meeting with Mufti Taqi Usmani, Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman and Allama Shehenshah Hussain Naqvi via video.

Earlier on April 16, the governor met with delegations of Karachi electronic market and other traders.