Those who attended PDM's Lahore rally should self-quarantine, says Punjab health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid

• The provincial minister said that the PDM rally has doubled the fears of coronavirus spread in Punjab

• Rashid urged the participants to quarantine themselves at least for 14 days
  

• PTI Senator Faisal Javed claims that 11 parties together could not manage to gather a handful of people

LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Monday advised the participants of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally to quarantine themselves given the escalating coronavirus positivity rate that has seriously concerned health professionals over the last months.

Read more: PDM vs Govt: How many people gathered at Minar-e-Pakistan today?

The provincial minister said that the PDM rally had doubled the fears of coronavirus spread in Punjab, urging that everyone who attended the jalsa should quarantine themselves for at least for 14 days in order to keep their families and dear ones safe.

She lamented that despite the government's incessant efforts to prevent mass gatherings from taking place, the Opposition still went ahead with their jalsas to put the lives of its workers at stake.

Read more: PDM not permitted to hold Dec 13 rally due to rising COVID-19 cases: Deputy Commissioner Lahore

"The PDM has carried out a deadly attack on the health of its workers under the guise of its lustrous politics and in a bid to hide [their] corruption," she lambasted. 

“People will never forgive PDM, who has become the enemy of their well-being,” she asserted.

'Eleven parties together could not attract a massive crowd'

On the other hand, PTI Senator Faisal Faisal Javed Khan said that the PDM failed to attract a massive crowd at Minar-e-Pakistan despite its tall claims.

“Eleven parties could not gather 22,000 people,” he remarked.

Javed also claimed that the Opposition parties posted pictures of old PTI meetings on social media to show that a lot of people attended the jalsa.

Meanwhile, PML-N’s Malik Ahmad Khan said that every jalsa has a unique situation. 

"The PDM jalsa is a movement against the tyrannical government's rule,” he added.

"I was present at the venue and saw that there were as many people inside Minar-e-Pakistan's as there were outside. In fact, the capacity of the venue was less for the participants," he maintained.

He also said that the Opposition will now exert more pressure on the government.

In response to PTI leaders' assertion that they would never hand over the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NROs) to them, Ahmed said that PDM leaders are not seeking NROs. “In what capacity can Imran Khan give NROs?”, he questioned.