The famous mountain Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps was lit up with Pakistan’s flag in a bid to express solidarity and support amid the pandemic. On April 25, Switzerland’s Matterhorn projected Pakistan’s flag. A picture of which was shared on Twitter.
In Pakistan with high mountains like Switzerland, the spread of the coronavirus is on the rise. We show solidarity with the people of Pakistan and wish them much strength. #hope #Zermatt #Matterhornhttps://t.co/qFjiKuZNsE pic.twitter.com/DoEmZnEIIr
— Zermatt – Matterhorn (@zermatt_tourism) April 25, 2020
It said, “Switzerland shows solidarity with the people of Pakistan and wishes them strength.” Pakistan’s flag, as displayed by Switzerland won the hearts of many in the country.
Every night, the popular mountain is lit up with projections of images, including flags of countries across the globe, that have been hit with the deadly disease.
Artist Gerry Hofstetter started this initiative last month. His first illumination on the mountain was that of the Swiss flag, reported CNN. Flags of other countries including the United States, Canada, Nepal and Russia have been projected on the mountain as well
It is worth mentioning here that Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world, with about 2.9 million confirmed cases in 185 countries as of Sunday afternoon, according to a running tally by US-based Johns Hopkins University.
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The university’s data showed that the number of virus-linked deaths reached 203,332, while the number of people who recovered stands at 824,002.
A total of 2,900,422 cases are recorded worldwide, and the US is the hardest-hit with the highest number of infections and deaths — more than 939,200 and nearly 54,000, respectively. While Italy has the second-highest death toll with 26,384, Spain has the second-highest cases – over 223,700.
Pakistan has reported 13, 328 confirmed cases and 279 deaths as of Monday. The country is also observing a smart lockdown for last more than a month. Experts and analysts believe that the country was able to successfully combat COVID-19 despite having limited resources.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently termed Pakistan’s measures against COVID-19 outbreak as ‘timely’ and the ‘best national response’. The Country Head of the WHO Dr Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala, while talking to media in Karachi during his visit to various hospitals and testing labs, said: “At a time when other countries were reporting cases, Pakistan was keeping the virus at bay, which is something quite praiseworthy.”
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Analysts believe that Pakistan’s economic condition does not allow the country to prolong a curfew-like lockdown. Prime Minister Imran Khan has been of the view that any attempt to restrict daily wagers to their residences might lead to some serious law and order situation.
“People are running short of food now. There is no work for daily wagers. There is nothing to earn,” said G-M Pitafi, professor of Politics and International Relations at UMT, Lahore. He also feared that street crimes may increase as people won’t have food and they will break both social norms and legal rules to fulfil their basic needs.
We should, argued the premier, be careful before we decide to take any stern action to combat the Coronavirus outbreak. Some media persons slammed PM Imran for not comprehending the situation and letting the virus spread across the country. However, with the passage of time, the premier was able to offer concrete evidence to support his version of partial lockdown.
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It is important to note that the Sindh government has now experienced that the province cannot remain shut for two more weeks. Therefore, it has now announced to ease the rules concerning lockdown in the province.