As of April 12, 5,038 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed and 86 people have died in Pakistan. In the past few days, the pandemic has spread very fast in the country, and the situation is getting worse.

These days, a new feature of the pandemic spread in Pakistan is that the novel coronavirus has invaded slum areas and the confirmed cases in the slums have been increasing significantly, which is a very dangerous signal and should be highly concerned by the international community.

About 40% of Pakistan's population live below the extreme poverty line. A large number of poor people flock into cities, resulting in the increasing number of slums in major cities. Karachi, for example, is the most populous city in Pakistan, with an annual population increase of 800,000 and most of the new arrivals live in slums.

The Pakistani government and the whole society have been making great efforts to cope with the pandemic and solve the problems of poor people's livelihood. After lockdown of the cities, the Pakistani government has established the Prime Minister's Corona Relief Fund to collect donations from the society for the poor.

Speaking at a telethon held on a private television channel to collect donations last Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that some 12 million people are being distributed money for rations through the Ehsaas Cash Programme.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said that in addition to using its own resources, the government has been raising funds because the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis on the poor will "further worsen". He said, "we have a list of 12 million people but the number will further increase."

Thus, we can see that while implementing the lockdown measures, the Pakistani government has been seriously considering and taking effective measures to solve the livelihood problems of "slum dwellers" and daily income workers.

According to the latest media report, at the call of the government, Pakistan's social organizations, business circles and the rich have been making active contribution these days, which fully reflects the national unity of the country. As Prime Minister Imran Khan said, "no federal or provincial government can win the war against coronavirus alone, only national unity can win the war."

Pakistan used to be a front-line country in international counter-terrorism war, making extremely important contributions to world and regional peace. Now, the country is increasingly plagued by the pandemic. I strongly believe that at this crucial moment, the international community should lend a helping hand and assist Pakistan to fight the pandemic and solve the livelihood problems of the poor.

Source: China Economic Net, April 12, 2020