Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday appealed to the citizens to celebrate the upcoming festival of Eid-ul-Azha with simplicity and in compliance with coronavirus SOPs prepared by the government. He urged the people to practice caution when sacrificing animals and in celebrating the holiday.

Inaugurating an infectious disease hospital in Islamabad, PM Imran said that “we were careless on Eidul Fitr”. “We didn’t consider that this virus spreads more rapidly when too many people gather in one place,” he said, adding that this caused a strain on our healthcare system and we lost lives.

However, the situation was controlled using measures such as the smart lockdown strategy and with everyone’s cooperation, thankfully numbers are going down now, he said. The premier again urged the public to practice caution lest the virus spreads and increases the burden on the healthcare system once more.

The 250-bed isolation hospital and infectious treatment center was built in a record time of 40 days. The healthcare facility will be operational from today. It was established in order to reduce the load of Covid-19 patients in other hospitals in the federal capital. During the inauguration, PM Imran was briefed regarding several aspects of the facility by National Disaster Management Authority Chairman Lieutenant-General Muhammad Afzal. The briefing continued with Huawei CEO Mark Meng, who informed the PM about the equipment Huawei provided to this hospital.

Also present on the occasions were Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, Federal Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar, and Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Shibli Faraz.