A police official and a lady doctor display self-quarantine messages to public in Islamabad and Lahore respectively on Sunday.

The Sindh government clamped a complete 15-day lockdown in the province to be effective from midnight while Prime Minister Imran Khan ruled out such measure in Pakistan and urged citizens to self-quarantine.

In his address to the nation on Sunday, Imran said complete lockdown of the country is not feasible as 25 per cent of our population lives below the poverty line.

A health official checks the temperature of a passenger at Lahore Railway Station. AFP

All public transport will be shut down. People can be stopped and questioned why they are out and will have to show national identity cards. Those unnecessarily out will have action taken against them.

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As per the decision, nobody will come out. However, anybody wants to go to hospital, he will have a maximum of three persons in a car.
Before taking the decision, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah talked to religious people and politicians.

In a televised address to the nation, the prime minister explained what a lockdown actually mean. "First let me tell you what a lockdown is. It means imposing a curfew and locking people in their houses.”

The premier observed that the situation in Pakistan does not call for a lockdown yet. "If the condition was similar to that of China and Italy, I would have imposed a lockdown.”

Imran pointed out that a lockdown would have an adverse impact on daily wagers. "What will happen to 25 per cent of poor population?” he asked and added China and Italy can afford a lockdown. "Pakistan does not have a capacity to provide entire nation with food at home.”

The prime minister pleaded to the masses to observe self-isolation instead. "It is your responsibility to take precautions,” he emphasised. "If you have symptoms, self-quarantine yourself. Panic and chaos would cause more damage than the deadly pneumonia-like virus.”

Imran asked the nation to "fully trust” him. The address comes as Pakistan confirmed fourth death due to the novel coronavirus on Sunday. The tally of confirmed cases stands at 646 with 292 patients in Sindh, 152 in Punjab, 104 in Balochistan, 55 in Gilgit Baltistan, 31 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 11 in Islamabad and one in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.