Asked on ventilators, Imran Khan again raises Pak's 'nuclear bombs' as Covid crisis grows

Amid deepening coronavirus crisis in the country, Pakistan PM Imran Khan boasted about the country's ability to create an atom bomb, using it to buttress his claims that they should hence be adequately poised to manufacture ventilators on their own.

In a video that has surfaced on social media, Imran Khan is seen responding to a query on ventilators, as he goes on to say that it should be easy for a country like Pakistan to manufacture ventilators, if they could make their own atomic bomb. Imran Khan's boastful comment about possessing nuclear power has done rounds multiple times on earlier occasions and comes as a shocker as the world grapples with the COVID pandemic. 

Pakistan has recorded 5038 COVID cases as on Sunday and has reported 86 deaths so far, with 1026 having recovered from the virus.

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Imran Khan's boastful comment amid crisis

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Pakistan to take call on Covid lockdown

Speaking at a press conference, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar said that Imran Khan will take a decision on the Coronavirus lockdown in Pakistan after his meeting with the National Coordination Committee on COVID-19, comprising senior officials of all provinces and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), on Sunday. "We will make a national decision on the lockdown," said Umar. However, he added that also said that the country would suffer about Rs 1,400-1,500 billion shortfall in revenues due to the nationwide shutdown. 

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Coronavirus in Pakistan

The official data posted by the Ministry of National Health services on its website showed that the worst-hit Punjab province reported 2,414 COVID-19 cases, Sindh 1,318, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 697, Balochistan 220, Gilgit-Baltistan 215, Islamabad 113 and PoK 34. It also reported that 762 patients have recovered so far. Seventy-seven patients have died including five in the last 24 hours. Authorities have so far conducted 61,801 tests, including 2,457 in the last one day. The official data showed that 52% of patients were those who had travelled abroad while 48%were local transmissions.

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