LAHORE: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar says the opposition parties are playing a negative role even in the current difficult situation asthey are trying to divide people instead of standing beside them.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, the chief minister said the opposition parties were merely doing lip service as well as making false promises and raising hollow slogans. However, he said, the PTI government was standing beside people in these hard times and was aware of their difficulties. He said the government had decided not to hold Ramzan Bazaars but under the Ramzan package, financial assistance would be provided to the deserving families.

CABINET COMMITTEE: The chief minister held a cabinet committee meetingathisofficeonvideolinkandreviewed treatment facilities being provided to coronavirus patients and the measures taken by the government for extending lockdown in the province.

The meeting also reviewed the pro-gress of availability and procurement of PPEs for the doctors, nurses and paramedical staff.

The meeting was told that the number of patients had reached 3,465 in Punjab including 78 new coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours. Some 3,700 coronavirus tests had been conducted during the last 24 hours.

Law minister Basharat Raja said doctors` problems would be solved on a priority basis. He said negotiation with the doctors washeneficial. He said provision of PPEs to the doctors would be ensured. He said doctors, nurses and paramedical staf f were front line soldiers and services of health professional were commendable.

Health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said coronavirus patients were being looked after in an effective manner. Tests of passengers coming from abroad would be conducted by keeping them in quarantine centres. She said social distancing was the only way to avoid coronavirus.

She said quarantine centres and isolation wards were timely established due to the effective measures taken by the Punjab government.