Pakistan on Tuesday approved a Rs 700 crore special relief package for labourers to help them face the economic fallout of the lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 300 lives and infected more than 14,000 people in the country.

Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired a Cabinet meeting which discussed various issues, including the fight against the coronavirus.

Addressing the Cabinet, Khan tasked Special Assistant for Social Welfare Dr Sania Nishter and Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar to devise a comprehensive mechanism for providing relief to the workers.

The Cabinet approved a Rs 75 billion (700 crore) special relief package for labourers. It also approved an assistance package for the COVID-19 related healthcare workers.

“Any healthcare worker, who dies while performing duties related to the COVID-19 shall be entitled to the same package as is applicable to the government servants in cases of security related deaths contained in Shuhada Package,” according to a statement.

The package will be applicable to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, it said.

Mirza said the government had decided to prepare national guidelines regarding the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

The government is working on a national plan for the safety and protection of frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, which will be announced in a few days.

On Friday, Imran Khan government has extended the countrywide lockdown to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic for 15 more days until May 9 amid doctors warnings against easing restrictions.

Pakistan coronavirus cases crossed 14,000 mark on Tuesday as 751 more infections were reported in the last 24 hours.

The Ministry of National Health services reported that the death toll reached 301 as 16 more people died during this period, while 3,233 people have fully recovered.

The total number of cases in Pakistan is 14,079. Punjab has registered 5,640 patients, Sindh 4,956, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1,984, Balochistan 853, Gilgit-Baltistan 320, Islamabad 261 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 65.

So far, 157,223 tests have been done, including 6,417 during the last 24 hours.

Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Hamza Shafqat issued an advisory to all media houses in the capital, urging them to take steps for protection of their workers after ARY News channel closed down its office after seven of its employees were tested positive.

Taking to Twitter, Shafaqat said, “They (media workers) must be provided with appropriate protection gears. We have provided some support to the reporters but more is required,”

Earlier, Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said that the railways would set up a special quarantine train comprising of 30 coaches in Balochistan.

According to authorities, Pakistan would also allow some foreign airlines to bring back about 40,000 Pakistani nationals stranded abroad.

Experts fear Covid-19 cases may rise further since the relaxations have been announced. They say these relaxations will bring hundreds of thousands of people to the streets, making them more vulnerable to local transmission of the deadly virus.