Punjab

The Government of Punjab declared a health emergency on 12 March in a cabinet meeting. A quarantine facility was established in the Dera Ghazi Khan district for the pilgrims returning from Iran.

On 22 March, the government decided to close down shopping malls, markets, parks and public gathering places for two days till 24 March. Punjab Chief Minister, Sardar Usman Buzdar urged people to stay at home, practice social distancing and avoid unnecessary travel. Despite this, local media reported that many residents in Lahore had failed to practice the measures and downright defied it by opening up businesses and gathering in large numbers on various public grounds. This led to the local police and city administration to forcibly vacate them.

On 23 March, The Chief Minister announced a 14 days lockdown from 24 March till 6 April. All markets, shopping malls and public places were closed and pillion riding was banned. He also stated that a 1,000 bed hospital would be setup in Lahore while five other hospitals were designated for coronavirus patients across the province the next day on 23 March while the local government and rescue services started disinfecting towns and cities. Public bus services were also temporarily suspended to disinfect all buses and stations. The Secretary Home Department of Punjab wrote a letter one the day to the Ministry of Interior seeking the assistance of the military under Article 245. The Punjab University manufactured coronavirus protection kits along with large amounts of hand sanitisers, disinfectants and antiseptic wet-tissues for the public. The sanitisers are for national usage. An online initiative was started for online purchases for home deliveries. Also on the day, more than 150 pilgrims arrived in Faisalabad from Iran via the Taftan border to be quarantined at a centre. More arrangements were made to quarantine another 450 pilgrims returning at a centre established in the campus of the Agricultural University. The government established the largest quarantine centre in the nation in Multan at Multan Industrial Estate to isolate the returning pilgrims with 3000 rooms. It had 1,247 pilgrims in quarantine as of the day. A companion 50 bed hospital was also setup to aid the centre.

The provincial government decided to close down the regional motorways except for private vehicles with up to two passengers as a preventive measure on 26 March. The NIH initiated district level training of high-dependency unit, isolation and quarantine staff across the province on 27 March.

The Chief Minister of the province announced a Rs10 billion relief package for financial support of 2.5 million families of daily-wage earners on 28 March. Each family was entitled to Rs4,000 financial assistance excluding the beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). The government also decided to remove provincial taxes to the tune of Rs18bn. The CM said that the Punjab government had decided to grant a 90-day imprisonment rebate to prisoners in jails across the province which would benefit some 3,100 prisoners. Furthermore, the Punjab Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control Ordinance, 2020, was implemented to allow the civil administration and health department to implement government measures with complete ease and under the cover of law. It was also declared that the government would provide a month's additional salary to all healthcare workers across Punjab. The Punjab Minister for Finance Hashim Jawan Bakht said that the economic package would also help the health sector and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) cope with the crisis with an immediate funding of Rs11.5 billion. To aid the medical professionals, a textile owner from Lahore offered to manufacture PPE voluntarily and free of cost. Also in the meeting, the CM stated that laboratories around the province would test 3,200 people every day for coronavirus and 10,000 doctors and paramedics were being recruited to fight the pandemic.

The Chief Minister Insaf Imdaad Programme (CMIIP) was launched on 1 April to help the daily wagers and the poor communities of the province affected by the pandemic. Furthermore, Zakat funds worth Rs870 million were also released to help around 170,000 families. A 1,000-bed field hospital was completed at the Lahore Expo Centre and the Punjab government also announced on the day that it had released Rs620 million for the establishment of eight new diagnostic labs at divisional level to speed up the testing process for COVID-19. Starting from 2 April, the lockdown in the province was extended until 14 April as per directions by the federal government. On 14 April, the lockdown period was further extended for two weeks, until 30 April by the federal government. The same day, Lahore police reported that a total of 13,498 cases had been registered against lockdown violators since 16 March.

By early April, the province suspended regular prayer services in places of worship to stop the spread of COVID-19. Punjab Chief Secretary, Azam Suleman Khan relayed to media on 6 April that field hospitals for coronavirus patients were being established across the province and two of these would be functional in Rawalpindi and Jhelum in the next three days.

On 8 April, the Lahore District Jail Superintendent urged authorities to not send any new inmates to the prison after 49 positive cases emerged there in addition to over 150 suspects. On 10 April, the Punjab Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Social Welfare Muhammad Basharat Raja stated that a transfer plan had been made to shift 3,500 prisoners from overcrowded jails to others to curb the spread of coronavirus in prisons of the province. Also on the day, the provincial Information Minister, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan declared a relief package for media workers and personnel. Under the package, the government would pay Rs1 million to any journalist who died due to COVID-19 while his widow would get Rs10,000 as monthly pension for life. Rs100,000 would also be provided to any media worker diagnosed with the coronavirus.

At least 1,700 pilgrims returning from Iran were quarantined at a centre in Multan on April 16.