Govt launches extensive awareness drive on coronavirus

Banners, steamers displayed at all public places

LAHORE: All the government agencies have teamed up to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus by raising awareness among the people.

Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan has said that beyond personal interests and political point-scoring, all stakeholders have to join hands to fight coronavirus that has claimed around 4,000 lives across the world.

Addressing a news conference on Tuesday, Chohan said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is raising awareness about prevention of coronavirus since February and it is ready to deal with the epidemic.

“The health department is issuing Sehat Insaf Cards to 7.2 million families comprising 35 million people. “About 70% of the families have already been given the cards,” the minister said.

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Chohan said the information department has mobilised all divisional and district information officers to disseminate as much information to the general public as possible regarding coronavirus through means like seminars and newspaper articles.

Speaking on the occasion, Information Secretary Raja Jehangir Anwar said the department has constituted a special monitoring cell to keep a close watch on the spread and prevention of coronavirus. He elaborated that on the instructions of the information minister, the department was adding information related to the coronavirus in all official advertisements. Awareness banners and steamers have been displayed at all public places, he added.

Raja Jahangir further said that special stage plays and animated cartoon series are in the development process to create habits of personal hygiene and prevention of coronavirus in children, which will be broadcast in all the Arts Councils of Punjab and on various TV channels.

Meanwhile, Lahore district administration has also mobilised resources to raise awareness among citizens to prevent coronavirus. Lahore Division Commissioner Saif Anjum, Deputy Commissioner Danish Afzal along with their teams inspected arrangements for the drive.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2020.