“A REPORT ON THE: EFFECT OF COVID-19 ON

PAKISTAN’s ECONOMY”

Submitted to:

Miss Zareen Rana

Submitted By:

1. Malik Mohammad Ali 2332-B.Com-2018

2. Mohammad Ishfaq Asif 2302-B.Com-2018

3. Abdullah Amjad 2330-B.Com-2018

4. Syed Abbas Hasnain Rizvi 2398-B.Com-2018

5. Malik Shahid Mehmood 2342-B.Com-2018-R

Course Title:

Technical Writing &Presentation Skills

B.Com (Hons.) Session 2018-22
Department of Commerce and Finance
Government College University,
Lahore

Dated: July 02, 2020

 II

Letter of Authorization
July 02, 2020

Mr. Ishfaq Asif

22, Block A
Main Boulevard, Gulberg
Lahore, Pakistan

Subject: (COVID 19 and its impacts on Pakistan’s economy)

Dear Mr. Ishfaq:

You are authorized to study the impact of COVID 19 on Pakistan’s economy under the rights of
Health Ministry of Pakistan.

You are authorized to study the:

1. The implementation and followings of SOPs at domestic level.

2. The implementation and followings of SOPs at the commercial level.
3. The impacts of it on Pakistan’s economy.

I recommend that the data drawn should be authentic and will be helpful in giving an awareness
to people about COVID- 19.

As we have agreed that on the successful publication of your report you’ll be given an amount of
5 lakhs to help the needy children.

Sincerely,

Dr. Zafar Mirza

Minister of State for Health

Dated: July 02, 2020

 III

Letter of Transmittal

July 02, 2020

Dr. Zafar Mirza

Minister of State for Health
Kohsar Block, Pak Secretariat
Main Margalla road, Islamabad

Dear Dr. Zafar:

Here is the report you requested on the different forms of COVID 19 in Pakistan.

We surveyed around 100 different cities including homes, workshops, grocery stores, factories
and educational institutes comprising of different questionnaires and interviews.

The survey results show that the current situation of COVID-19 in Pakistan is critical but many
people are massively violating the social distancing, use of masks in lockdown. There is no
check on the implementation and following of Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) in many
cities. As there is lot of bribing concept prevailing in the society and also effects in many things
of economy

On the basis of the survey findings it is recommended that there should be teams which are
appointed in different areas to check the spread of COVID 19

Thank you for giving us the chance to study about the different forms of abuses and I hope that
this report will be helpful in reducing the cases of COVID 19 in Pakistan.

Cordially

Malik Mohammad Ali

Mohammad Ishfaq Asif
Abdullah Amjad
Malik Shahid Mehmood
Syed Abbas Hasnain Rizvi

Dated: July 02, 2020

 IV

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary………………………………………………………. V, VI

1. INTRODUCTION…….……………………………………………….1

Background

Statement of Problem

Purpose of the Study

Scope

2. RELATED LITERATURE……………………………………………2

3. PROCEDURES………………………………………………………. 3

4. FINDINGS……………………………………………………………. 4

5. ANALYSIS…………………………………………………………… 5

6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION…………………… 6

APPENDIX___STUDY QUESTIONARE………………………………… 9

BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………….. 12

Dated: July 02, 2020

 V

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 as a pandemic. The COVID-19
(corona virus) has exponentially spread across the globe since the first case was reported in
Wuhan China in late December 2019.The virus has led to more than 3.1 million cases and 215
thousand deaths across the world and the numbers are rising. Pakistan is the fifth most populous
country in the world, with dense cities where contagion spreads far and fast.

In order to ‘flatten the curve’ of growing numbers of infected people, governments around the
world have been forced to impose complete lockdown of their societies and businesses. The
main concern for the Government of Pakistan (GOP) has been the economic impact the
lockdown will have on the poor segments of the society, and fragile economy on the whole. The
Pakistani Stock Market’s benchmark KSE-100 Index has plunged by over 25% in March, and the
rupee by over 6%. Pakistan’s economy is projected to face a loss of up to 4% of its GDP due to
disruptions in trade, potential decline in FDI and remittances, and fluxes in other sectors such as
aviation, tourism and hospitality, caused by the lockdown imposed in the country. [ CITATION
Meh20 \l 1033 ] The direct economic effects can already be seen, with widespread lockdowns
freezing most normal activity, export orders cancelled and vast numbers of daily workers
suddenly jobless. 2Pakistan's for ex reserves slumped 12% in the month of March amid virus
outbreak, from $12.8 billion to $11.2 billion. [ CITATION Kah20 \l 1033 ]
The International Monetary Fund managing director said that the corona virus pandemic will
push the global economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression, with the world’s
poorest countries suffering the most. In Pakistan’s case, the finance ministry said that so far the
magnitude of decline in economic growth due to the pandemic remained uncertain while a new
independent assessment put the national output losses in range of Rs891 billion to Rs1.6 trillion
in fourth fiscal quarter alone.[ CITATION Has20 \l 1033 ]
The study says, Public health systems were stretched long before the pandemic, with a ratio of
one doctor to 963 people and one hospital bed to 1,608 people. Its shortage of trained medical
staff is estimated at 200,000 doctors and 1.4 million nurses, and universal health coverage is
nonexistent, while the poverty rate declined by 40 percent over the last two decades to 24.3
percent in 2015, the IMF projects a sharp reversal, with up to 40 percent of Pakistanis living
below the poverty line in COVID-19’s viral wake. Real GDP growth is expected to slow by 3
percent, with downturns in services and manufacturing. Agriculture will also lag if lockdowns
continue and disrupt needed transportation, logistical support, labor, and access to inputs for the
next planting season.

Dated: July 02, 2020

 VI

Those most at-risk include people already living below poverty line, women, children, people
with disabilities, the elderly, and other marginalized groups whose lives, livelihoods, nutrition,
and access to basic services are least secure. Nearly 42 million children are now out of school,
while 17 million children under five are missing routine vaccinations. An additional 2.45 million
people—beyond an existing 40 million—now suffer food insecurity, the study finds.
The numbers paint a dismal picture, not just for Pakistan but for the entire world. With a vaccine
still not available, the future remains bleak as the global economy is now in declining phase.

Dated: July 02, 2020

 1

1- INTRODUCTION
Background

COVID-19 outbreak was first time experienced in the Wuhan City of China at the end of
December 2019, which spread rapidly in China and then worldwide in 209 countries of America,
Europe, Australia and Asia including Pakistan. The geographical location of Pakistan, with the
continuous increases in the number of CVOID-19 positive cases needs a high level of action,
planes and management. On 12th of February, the Ministry of National Health Services,
Regulation & Coordination Pakistan presented a plane “National Action Plan for Preparedness &
Response to Corona Virus Disease (Covid-19) Pakistan”, the aims to control the spreading of
virus and to strengthen country and community emergency preparedness in order to ensure a
timely, efficient and effective response to potential events due to Covid-19 including. The local,
regional and national outbreaks that can have a significant impact on the health of Pakistani
population and society to date, different steps have been taken by the government of Pakistan
against COVID-19 outbreak. In this review, we highlighted the different steps taken by the
government of Pakistan against CoVID-19, such as designated hospitals, quarantine centers,
testing facilities, treatments, public awareness and the response of local community against
COVID-19 outbreak. According to the Ministry of Health, government of Pakistan, there are
total of 3277 confirmed positive cases in the country with 18 critical and 50 mortalities on
Monday, April 6, 2020. The highest cases appeared in the Punjab province (1493) followed by
Sindh (881), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (405), Balochistan (191), Gilgit baltistan (210), Federal (82)
and Azad Jammu & Kashmir have 15 confirmed cases.[ CITATION Kha20 \l 1033 ].[ CITATION
Fie20 \l 1033 ]

Statement of the problem

The rapid spread of the novel corona virus and its resulting condition, COVID-19, has caught
much of the world off-guard. The tragedy has yet to fully play out, but it is already clear that the
crisis is thoroughly global in nature and that science is on the front lines in the fight against the
virus. This includes medical professionals attempting to heal the sick at risk to their own health,
public health officials tracking the virus and vigilantly urging such measures as social distancing
to mitigate its spread, and researchers now engaged in the development of diagnostics,
treatments and vaccine.

Dated: July 02, 2020

Scope
The safety of our customers and employees are our top priority as we face the Corona virus
(COVID-19) pandemic together. Scope is closely monitoring the situation as it evolves each day.
We are following the information and advice from the Government and the Department of
Health and Human Services. Scope is well placed and prepared to respond to this situation. We
are well prepared for emergencies.
Scope has had a pandemic action plan in place and a team of staff trained to deal with
emergencies. Our dedicated Incident Management Team meets regularly to implement measures
to keep customers and employees safe, while still delivering essential services.

Purpose
The findings of this study could be used to set priorities in information campaigns on COVID-19
by public health authorities and the media. Such information provision could, for instance,
emphasize the comparatively low case-fatality rate, the recommended care-seeking behavior, the
low risk posed by individuals of Pakistan, and that children appear to be at a lower risk for a fatal
disease course than adults. In addition, to ensure that individuals focus their attention on those
prevention measures that are most effective, this study suggests that it will be important to
inform the public about the comparative effectiveness of common surgical masks versus frequent
and thorough hand-washing and avoiding close contact with people who are sick.

Dated: July 02, 2020

 2

(2)RELATED LITERATURE
WHO is bringing the world’s scientists and global health professionals together to accelerate the
research and development process, and develop new norms and standards to contain the spread
of the corona virus pandemic and help care for those who had been affected. The R&D
Blueprint has been activated to accelerate diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics for this novel
corona virus. The solidarity of all countries will be essential to ensure equitable access to
COVID-19 health products. Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the syndrome caused by the
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 was first reported in Wuhan, China, in early
December 2019.1 Since then, the virus has spread quickly around the world, with the World
Health Organization (WHO) declaring the corona virus outbreak a global pandemic on March
11, 2020. As of May 21, 2020, more than 5,000,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed,
and more than 328,000 deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported globally. These numbers
are expected to increase, due to the reproduction number of CoV-.19 represents the number of
new infections generated by an infectious person in a totally population.

Dated: July 02, 2020

 3

(3) PROCEDURE
This survey was done by the different people randomly and searched the news articles through
internet and the information which is provided in all this is issued by the government of Pakistan
and we have met several peoples to know the condition of corona virus in the whole country.
Basically many people thought that corona virus is just a flu but it’s a disease which directly hits
your lungs and make your chest feel tighten, so for this many people is taking safety measures by
washing hand and mouth again and again using mask and sanitizer. For this report I have met
many people who are using these safety measures.

Dated: July 02, 2020

 4
4 – FINDINGS
Basically this survey is conducted to know the real quantity of the corona patients in the country
and also to know the present economic value of the whole country. This was a desktop study and
we took most of the data from the prints and social media.

Establishment Quarantine house:

Government of Pakistan has set quarantine house at borders as well as in various cities.
Simultaneously, the government has decided to lockdown major cities for more than one month
duration. In this way, the whole country was put into self-quarantine. But the government has
offered no facility to keep the citizen inside their houses. For basic needs and daily
requirements, such as food and medicines, they were allowed to go outside of their houses. This
is how; some shops were allowed to keep open. These include vegetables, general store, and
medicine shops. Some business and shops were completely closed, such as hotels, weeding hall,
barber shops. Pilgrims from Iran was one big problem for Pakistan. Which effect the Pakistan
economy very badly because of lockdown shops and many other business were closed so no
business makes loss and it lead towards economic loss and also Pakistan is developing country
not the developed one so the business, trading and transportation can make the country
economically stronger.

Closure of Education Institution

To avoid quick spread of corona virus, all school, colleges and universities were closed on 13th
March, 2020 throughout the country. Initially this act of government was criticized for the
reasons that no alternate arrangements were made to save time of the students. Such as online
classes, quiz program, reading materials, assignment etc. Later on, with the passage of time, the
infection was spread out rapidly across the globe as well as Pakistan. It was proved that this
closure was justified and was a good decision. According to first announcements, all educational
institutions were closed till 31st March. Later on, it was extended till 31st May, 2020, with a
mentioning that this break will be counted as summer vacation. In most parts of Pakistan, due to
hot summer, education institutes observed summer vacation during Jun and August. This year all
the students will attend classes in hot most months of the year. Closure of the education centers
can also be a part of the economic downfall of the Pakistan country because of the closure of
transportation the schools and colleges were closed and Pakistan mostly makes its money by

Dated: July 02, 2020

 transportation and business and now a day institutes is a better way of business.[ CITATION
Awa20 \l 1033 ]

Daily wage labor:

Daily wage labor is the most vulnerable segment of our population. At present, Pakistan has a
labor force of 72.5 million. 9.5 million are above 50 years age and 63 million are above 15 years
age working in different sectors. Out of this total, 7 millions are daily wage worker and 3.6
million are unemployed (Iftikhar Ahmad, 2020). Being as a developing country, it was not
possible for the government of Pakistan to reach every daily wage labor for appropriate support
for their daily needs. Initially there was partial lockdown in Pakistan. The aim of partial
lockdown was to avoid unnecessary interaction and mobility. Partial lockdown was good for
daily wage labor. They could go to their work place. In the second phase major cities were
locked down. Again it cannot be called complete lockdown, as someone can go outside for the
purchase of various items of daily importance. Major markets, hotels and restaurants have been
closed completely. After city level lockdown, Pakistan (Federal Government) has announced a
relief package of 3,000 rupees per month for 7 million daily wage workers (Iftikhar, 2020).
[ CITATION Ift20 \l 1033 ]Several questions arise with this package, such as, how to differentiate
between labor and daily wage labor? There is any database available with the government to
reach the right person? These Rs. 3000/- will be enough to meet monthly expenditures? It the
question is no, will be a big disappointment. According to Haqet al 2008, monthly food expenses
of an average house hold size of five members is ranged from Rs. 14000 to 17000. As per latest
estimate, about 12.3 the lock down continued, the monthly loss may goes up to 260.9 billion per
month with a total collapse with irreparable loss to labor force of Pakistan (Mehtab Haider,
2020). The COVID-19 episode is continued and Pakistan still has a long distance to go. Pakistan
has to take care of it population in general and its labor force in particular. Pakistan is required to
take the religious institution in confidence, use the government machinery for better planning in
the coming days.

Macro-Economic effect
The government is facing a huge challenge in curtailing the spread of the COVID-19 while
struggling to minimize the socio-economic impacts of the outbreak at the same time. At such it
is, having implications on food production and the entire value chain including marketing,
distribution and even the consumption due to lack of livelihoods opportunities and the majority
of the population having subsistence earning. The lockdown and the global economic shock have
the potential to throw up to 125million people in Pakistan below the poverty line. This will
disproportionately impact the vulnerable and marginalized groups such as women and children
daily wage worker, small and medium enterprises agriculture and other the informal sectors. The

Dated: July 02, 2020

immediate economic shock is further exacerbated by the human cost in terms of mental trauma
of death of a relative and fear of encounter of virus and isolation or loss of academic progress for
students.

(5) ANAYLSIS

On the basis of following finds, it has been analyzed that the corona cases are spreading
continuously in Pakistan and also badly affecting our economy.

Dated: July 02, 2020

 6

CONCLUSION
Due to limited resources, Pakistan was not in a position to handles such fast-growing pandemic
effectively. No one was expecting Pakistan to handle this pandemic efficiently. The various
developments revealed that the over results were promising. Therefore, the various acts of
Pakistan were appreciable and got control over the spread of VOVID-19 to a big extent.

COVID-19 is/was new to the world; it affected poor and rich countries equally. Developing
world seems more vulnerable as compared to developed world due to the following reasons.

1. Arrangement and management of quality quarantine facility

2. Occupational safety measures for doctors and other health workers

3. Awareness and education of common persons

4. Handling of daily wage labor and other poor segments of a society

5. Availability of preventive measures in terms of sanitizer and good personal hygiene

6. On time availability of first aid

7. Special transport facility for COVID-19 patients and dead bodies.

8. Availability of treatment in hospitals. On the basis of the above factors, poor countries, like
Pakistan are/were more vulnerable and affected the negatively.

Dated: July 02, 2020

RECOMMENDATIONDS
The following are few recommendations required for Pakistan.

1. Pakistan must construct quarantine facilities on all exist and entrance with Iran, China,
Afghanistan, and India.

2. Pakistan should establish quarantine facilities at provincial level in all provincial capital cities,
Karachi, Quetta, Lahore and Peshawar.

3. Pakistan should initiate online classes as future strategy to avoid break in academic session
during epidemic.

4. Pakistan must keep a database for all sort of labor. In this way the government of Pakistan can
reach to poor labor on time for support.

5.  The World Health Organization has recommended Pakistani authorities to re impose “intermittent
lockdowns” of targeted areas to curb the spread of the novel corona virus, stating the country did not meet
the global body’s conditions for lifting restrictions.

6. Pakistan should implement the proper laws for social distancing so the chances of spreading or virus
must be reduced.

7. Only two persons should be allowed to work in management purpose only.

8. Finally, this is the moment for Pakistan to re-negotiate our social contract; to spend more on healthcare,
social safety nets for the poor and linking Covid-19 bailout money for businesses to enter the tax net.

Dated: July 02, 2020

 7

Appendix

Questionnaire
Multiple Choice Questions:

1) The virus causing COVID-19 infection is called:

a)Severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus (SARS)

b) Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronovirus-2

c) 2019-N COVID

d) Both b and c.

2) First report of case were from:

a)macau

b)wuhan

c)taipei

d)beijing

3) The main mode of transmission of virus from person to person is:

a) Respiratory droplets

b) Spread from contact with contaminated surfaces or object.

c) Both a and b

Dated: July 02, 2020

4) Asia in 2002, which of the following country has the greatest number of confirmed death cases from
the virus till date?

a) China

b) Brazil

c) USA

d) Italy

5) Which of the following virus does not show flu symptoms in humans?

a) Corona virus

b) Rhinovirus

c) Rotavirus

d) Influenza virus

6) Which of the following statement is NOT true about the important properties of Corona virus?

a) Non-Enveloped RNA virus

b) Enveloped RNA virus

c) Distributed around the world

d) Can spread from person to person

7) Which of the following people are seen at a higher risk of mortality during the COVID-19 infections?

a) Pregnant women

b) Kids 5-10 years old

c) Men 30- 50 years old

d) Older population

Dated: July 02, 2020

8) The recent outbreak of the corona virus infections has spread in many countries and declared a
pandemic, an increasing number of deaths have been reported all over the world. Which of the
following statements is NOT true about the infection caused by COVID-19?

a) Animal to human transmission have been found

b) Person to person transmission has not been found

c) SARS is the severe respiratory infection caused by corona virus

9) Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is the type of corona virus, when was the first case of the
virus reported?

a) 2003

b) 2020

c) 2012

d) 2019

10) Which of the following is NOT the most common symptoms of infection caused by the corona virus?

a) High fever

b) Cough

c) Difficulty in breathing

d) Vomiting

12) Which of the following is NOT the proper specimen for the identification of SARS-COVID 19?

a) Nasal secretions

b) Urine

c) Blood

d) Stool

Dated: July 02, 2020

13) Which of the following country has reported the highest cases of COVID-19 (june 2020) infections
other than China and Spain?

a) USA

b) Italy

c)Brazil

d) India

14) New York has the most cases of deaths reported in the USA from COVID-19, as of June 2020 how
many people all over the country have been reported to be infected?

a) 200,000

b) < 2 million

c)> 2 million

d)1 million

15) Which of the following antiviral drug is seen as the possible experimental drug for COVID-19 but no
100% positive results have been shown by the drug yet?

a) Peramivir

b) Acyclovir

c)Remdesivir

d) Tamiflu

16) According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the USA, more than 70 percent of
people dying from COVID-19 are in which of the following age group?

a)50 years and below

b) 65 years and above

Dated: July 02, 2020

c)5 years and above

d) 50 years and above

17) More than 10 million positive confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, how many
confirmed death cases has been reported globally till date (June 2020)?

a) 300,000

b) 200,000

c) 100000

d) 500,000

18) Which of the following was the recent pandemic seen in the last 25 years?

a) 2009 H1N1

b) 2014 H5

c) 1994 Plague

d) None of the above

19) The origin of the corona virus strain causing SARS and MERS has been found to be from bats, which
of the following animal have been found to be the possible host for the COVID-19 that first transmitted
to humans in China?

a) Ducks

b) Bats

c) Cows

d) None of the above

20) The study on corona virus shows that COVID-19 remains active outside the host cell and is
transferred to humans through the mucous membranes, some factors which could make the virus less
active less stable are given below EXCEPT?

a. UV light

b. Hot water

c. Sunlight

Dated: July 02, 2020

d. None of the above

Bibliography
. Kahn, J. S. (2020). History and recent advances in coronavirus discovery. The Pediatric infectious
disease journal,. .

Dated: July 02, 2020

Ahmad, .. I. (2020). COVID-19 and Labour Market. Centre for Labour research.

Fielding, C. L. (2020). Disease associated with equine coronavirus infection and high case fatality rate.
Journal of veterinary internal medicine.

Haider, M. (2020). . Forecast of COVID-19: ‘Pakistan may face. The daily news, international .

Hashim., 1. A. (2020). 1. Asad Hashim. 2020. Pakistani doctors decry lack of supplies as lockdown looms.
Aljazeera TV, dated 23 March, 2020. URL: https://pakistani-doctors-decry-lack-supplies-lockdown-
debate-rages-.

Khalil, A. T . (2020). Emerging viral infections in Pakistan.

N., A. M. (2020). Determinants of Urban Poverty: The Case of Medium Sized City in Pakistan. Pakistan
Institute of Development Economics.

Dated: July 02, 2020