LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has set up Rs. 5 billion special fund to deal with coronavirus and ordered an indiscriminate crackdown on the mafias involved in hoarding of masks and sanitizers.

He was presiding over a meeting of the cabinet committee at his office on Thursday to review the precautionary measures being taken for overcoming the coronavirus.

He said that Rs. 236 million have been issued to the Health Department and one billion rupees were allocated as well, he added.

The government would provide more resources to safeguard the lives of people.

The chief minister ordered for arranging diagnostic kits as soon as possible, adding that there should be no shortage of the kits.

Implementation of the decisions made in the provincial apex committee be ensured, as the government would continue adopting necessary steps to save lives of people, added the CM.

He said the Punjab government wanted to set up a quarantine facility in Taftan with its resources and directed the line departments to take steps in this regard in collaboration with the Balochistan government.

The meeting also reviewed the proposal of shutting down shopping malls and restaurants at 7pm or 8pm, and the chief minister directed the committees concerned to review it and submit their conclusive recommendations at the earliest.

He said the role of Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) was very important in the current situation and asked its director general (DG) to review the situation in the field.

The chief minister directed him to submit reports of districts' tours to the CM Office daily.

He said that people could not be left alone in difficult circumstances.

The CM said that self-isolation in homes would produce positive results and added that people should be educated about it.

He also ordered to complete the process of conducting tests of pilgrims coming from Iran at the earliest and added that implementation of the precautionary measures be ensured in the light of the World Health Organisation (WHO) instructions.

The government was aware of financial problems of daily-wage employees and a committee had been constituted which would submit its recommendations at the earliest, he said.

The meeting also reviewed stopping wedding ceremonies at homes as well.

He said the number of employees had been sufficiently decreased in government offices.

The chief minister said that purchase process of safety dress and other material for doctors and paramedical staff be completed at the earliest and the Health Department should submit a report to the cabinet committee every day.

The secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare gave a briefing to the participants.

Provincial ministers Dr Yasmin Rashid, Mian Aslam Iqbal, Hashim Jawan Bakht, Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan, MPA Mussarat Jamshed Cheema, chief secretary, IG Police, Senior Member Board of Revenue, additional chief secretary (home), commissioner Lahore, administrative secretaries and others attended the meeting.