Small and medium businessmen, especially hoteliers and restaurant owners, have suffered loss due to the lockdown imposed by the government for the past three months to avoid spread of the disease.

A local restaurant owner in Ghizer told ANI news agency, "I have six to seven workers and I am paying them daily wages. It has been three and a half months of lockdown and I have been paying them as of now. Now, we have no money left to pay. They are poor. Where will they go? I can survive but the workers are in distress. The government must provide us with some relief or allow to restart work."

The small businessmen of the region have alleged discrimination by Islamabad.

"The way businessmen in Pakistan are working amid lockdown, we are not allowed to work here. There is a complete lockdown in our area. Even a junior official come and put restrictions on us. There is no law in Ghizer district. We cook food and suddenly a police officer comes and forces us to shut our businesses. This causes us huge losses," the businessmen told ANI.

Pakistan has registered 80463 COVID-19 cases so far.

Gilgit Baltistan, bordering China's Xinjiang region, has so far registered 779 cases.