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Pakistan PM Imran Khan says country may have to ‘live with coronavirus’ when restrictions ease

  • Khan said impoverished Pakistan cannot afford to keep businesses closed and said almost all sectors – including domestic tourism – would reopen
  • Officially, about 72,000 people have tested positive, with 1,543 deaths, across all of Pakistan, and the daily rate of new cases is accelerating

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Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. Photo: dpa
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced his government will end several months of coronavirus restrictions, even as it emerged cases of the disease are likely many times higher than previously thought.
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In a televised address, Khan said impoverished Pakistan cannot afford to keep businesses closed and said almost all sectors – including domestic tourism – would reopen. He also warned Pakistan may simply have to learn to “live with the virus”.

His announcement came soon after an alarming government report was leaked to the media that showed cases of novel coronavirus in the eastern city of Lahore are estimated to be at about 670,800.

“No workplace and residential area of any town [in the Lahore region] is disease-free,” the report notes.

Officially, about 72,000 people have tested positive, with 1,543 deaths, across all of Pakistan. The daily rate of new cases is accelerating.

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