’ Shoaib Akhtar asks people to stop treating Covid-19 pandemic as ‘holiday or picnic’ time

Mangalore Today News Network

Islamabad, Mar 24, 2020: The fear over the novel coronavirus has gripped the whole world. Several countries like Italy, the US, Germany, Iran, Spain and the UK are struggling to control the spread of the highly contagious disease which has wreaked havoc. More than 300000 cases have come to light while around 13000 have lost their lives due to Covid-19. The governments all around the world are pleading with the people to exercise restraint and practice social distancing to isolate the contagion. However, former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar is not happy with the reactions of the people in his country, Hindustan Times reported.

 

Around 800 people have been infected with Covid-19 in Pakistan and the situation looks grim. But Akhtar has revealed that people are not taking this virus seriously as they are taking this period as a holiday. He says people are ignoring the warnings as they continue to roam around the streets freely.

“I went outside for some really important work today. I did not shake hands with anyone or hugged anyone. The windows of my car were closed the entire time and I came back home as soon as possible. But I noticed a very worrying trend outside. I saw 4 guys travelling on one bike, they were going for a picnic. People are having food together outside, travelling to other places. Why are restaurants still open, why are we not closing them,” Akhtar said in a YouTube video.

“In India, people have embraced a curfew. But here in Pakistan, we can’t stop travelling. 90% of cases are due to human contact but we are not ready to stay at home. What are we doing? This is dangerous, it’s like playing with the lives of people,” he added.

Akhtar even requested the Pakistan government to impose a lockdown in the country to stop people from gathering on the streets.

“We are failing to understand that this (coronavirus) is a huge threat. Don’t believe in myths that this virus will not spread in the summer or not infect young people. People are roaming around freely, what is the need to go outside,” said Akhtar.

“I request Pakistan government to take strong action and impose a lockdown. Please lockdown the cities. Italy made a huge mistake by not imposing lockdown early. People are dying there every day. I request Pakistan government to give time slot to people to buy all the necessary items like groceries and impose a lockdown. Sorry to say but people in Pakistan are not listening, they are out there having picnics and celebrating,” he added.

Akhtar lashed out at Peshawar Zalmi owner Javed Afridi after the latter suggested Pakistan Super League (PSL) could have continued for another 48 hours. The PSL had entered the knockout stages and semifinal matches were due to be played on Tuesday, however, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) postponed the remainder of the tournament amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.Following the postponement news, Javed Afridi had said he was in favour of holding the final few matches of the tournament. He suggested that it is only a matter of two days that the tournament will come to an end.

“I back the decision to postpone the league but on a personal note I was in favour of holding the remaining matches as well. While we were discussing this issue in meeting with other PSL franchises and PCB, I raised the point that it is just a matter of 48 hours, so let the PSL conclude in a better way,” Afridi was quoted as saying by ProPakistani.pk.