Coronavirus outbreak: CM Buzdar announces relief package for the poor

LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar announced a relief package for the poor on Saturday and said that doctors and medical staff tending to coronavirus patients will be provided an additional month's salary. 

Addressing a news conference, the Punjab chief minister said that the government had decided to provide Rs4,000 per family to 2.5 million households which would cost the Rs10 billion. 

"The Government of Punjab will make sure that the poor and the daily wage earners are not left alone in their time of need," he said. 

The chief minister made an important announcement regarding healh professionals and doctors battling the pandemic. "The government has decided to provide an additional month's salary to the doctors and health professionals working in coronavirus wards," he said. 

CM Buzdar said that the government had decided to reduce the imprisonment sentences by 90 days of prisoners convicted for petty crimes. "A recommendation for undertrial prisoners will also be sent to the federal government soon," he said. 

The Punjab chief minister announced that it had been decided to waive Rs18 billion in provincial taxes as the coronavirus crisis had crippled economic activity in the province and the country. 

Buzdar said that the virus was spreading in Punjab at a fast pace. He said that in the past 24 hours, 82 cases had been reported across the province.