Salahuddin Haider
CORONA a menace,
deadly disease, the
world has not known before, world scientists, researchers, invented new techniques, introduced vaccines, life saving drugs, controlled diseases, pulled human beings from death beds to normalcy, but are still struggling to know even the reason of Corona virus, so that they can reach some positive conclusions, work is going apace in different parts of the world to find recovery methods for this horrific ailment.
Luckily, human endeavour has finally met some success. Newzealand and Iran haave complete controlled it. Not a single cae reported from down under since Monday. Credit is due to its lady prime minister who is blessed with magic fingers, and her dedication to serve her people and humanity at large is indeed laudable. Iran, once base like china for spread of the disease, has also controlled it finally. God helps those who help themselves.
This has been proven once again. In Pakistan, however, due to negligence of lack of a clear cut policy or action plan, it has been searching for its victim like sharks in deep or shallow waters. Figures are enough to prove that point. Total cases reported in Pakistan so far is 1,04,000, 2067 death, horrendous number of 65 of these deaths last 24 hours . Prime minister Imran khan address to the nation on TV was a timely warning that carelessness along has contributed so the rapid increase in a disease for which country has no answer.
Special assistant Dr Zafar Mirza opposed wearing of masks in the beginning, but now he is overemphasizing it as pre-requisite for reducing the number of cases. While the prime minister has been clear in his logic and perception, and since day one maintained that alongside safety measures, complete lock down will lead to deaths rom hunger and other diseases. Poor families, daily wage earners can not afford to sit ideal and face starvation. His philosophy was followed by the world Now Italy, Spain, France, have to a very great extent overcome the problem.
Italy, Spain are now reporting 85 to 90 cases a day, against the horrendous figures of over 600 to 7000 death daily till a week before. Imran Khan also predicts that after reaching peaks in end of July or August, the menace will begin to show downward trend. But he warns that if people fail to wear masks, cover their noses, and mouths while coming out of home, 50 percent problem can be solved. We don’t know but surely, the permission allowed for eid shopping during the last week of Ramazan, saw a blind rush in the market.
Ladies, males, children, crowded shops without even caring for safety precautions, Neither did the shop-keepers who had made tall promises in rapprochement during deal with the administration, were themselves violators of the rules. None or at best very few of them wore masks, hand gloves, and maintained social distancing. A visit mail shopping malls, like Dolmen and others, an umbrella is set up with showers of sanitization, and fever scanning, are all followed strictly.
Old age people, especially those with ailments like cardiac problems, diabetes, blood pressure are disallowed, and unless you are well dressed wellm wear an educated look on your personality, you are blocked from entering the Malls.
That proved the point that precautions are better than cure. Small shopkeepers are normally either unaware of such precautionary steps or deliberately ignore. The needs of the hour is to train people and create awareness among them, which is unfortunately lacking since March. Parliamentarians of the political divide, and recently created tiger force must visit houses in low income or poor population areas to give them lessons about precautions. Even if 55/60 percent success is achieved, it will prove the point that well begun is half done.
There is urgent need to educate people. Europe and America has high literacy rate, plus age-old practices of disciplined behaviour and mananerism, which is in 90 percent cases missing from Indo-Pakistan or South Asian regions. It needs to be given urgent attention, Mere sermonizing will not do. People need to be told individually and collectively on the seriousness of the problem and made to understand through personal contacts that covering face and noce with masks, and washing hands before going out of home even forbuying essentials, or on important work, such measures are necessary.
