Facebook offers support to Pakistan for coronavirus awareness campaign

Dr Zafar Mirza says the social media platform could help sensitize people in the country against the pandemic

ISLAMABAD: Facebook on Thursday offered support to Pakistan in the coronavirus awareness campaign.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza met an international Facebook’s international delegation. According to a health ministry spokesperson, a comprehensive discussion was held on the growing pandemic which has claimed more than 4,000 lives world lives worldwide.

Representative for Government and Public Advocacy Julian Zhu assured that misinformation regarding the COVID-19 would be removed the Facebook.

Dr Mirza said that more than 41 million people in Pakistan use Facebook. The support from the social media website would help sensitize people in the country.



On Wednesday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus a pandemic.

“We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterised as a pandemic,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference.

Four countries account for 93% of the nearly 110,000 cases worldwide, Tedros said. “We are encouraged that Italy is taking aggressive measures to contain its epidemic and we hope that those measures prove effective in the coming days,” he added.

"WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction"-@DrTedros #COVID19

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 11, 2020