THE rate with which the Covid-19 is spreading in Paki
stan is already alarming but there are apprehensions that
the worse has yet to come and in that case the situation might get out of control if timely measures are not taken by the authorities concerned. Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday also warned that the country was yet to experience the peak of Coronavirus cases in late July or early August, urging people to show seriousness in adopting the SOPs, lest it could put their lives and those of their near ones at risk.
There is growing realization of the dangers ahead and it was in this context that the Supreme Court, which is hearing a suo motu case on Coronavirus, has taken back its order regarding reopening of markets and shopping malls on weekends. The three-day closure of the markets was aimed at auto disinfection but the apex court thought it appropriate to allow their opening for seven days a week in view of Eid festival and this together with liberal relaxation of the overall restrictions by the Government is believed to have contributed to the present state of affairs. It is, however, strange that at a time when the situation was deteriorating with the passage of every day, there is still not sufficient realization on the part of the masses to adhere to the safety guidelines issued by the Government and the business community is weary of the re-imposition of restrictions on weekends due to petty commercial considerations. There is, therefore, urgent need for enactment of Corona-related legislation as has also been directed by the Supreme Court to bind people to follow the SOPs. It would be wrong to expect people to follow the guidelines voluntarily and that too strictly as the situation demands. If highly educated people like Shahid Khaqan Abbasi can contract virus due to carelessness then we can understand the overall situation. Abbasi tested positive after he visited Lahore with another party leader Tariq Fazal Chaudhry who has also been tested positive. Apart from the grave risk for the general public, the life of those government servants, who are performing duties and invariably come into contact with other people, are also in danger as there are reports of more and more officials contracting virus. Not to speak of efficacy of measures to eradicate the virus from the entire country, the Government seems to be helpless even to do so at mini scale in government offices and in case of peak one can understand what would happen to ordinary souls.
In this backdrop, apart from making an appeal to the people to follow SOPs strictly, the Prime Minister has also listed measures that the Government has taken or intends to take to address the challenge including arrangement for 1,000 more beds with oxygen supply units for Intensive Care Unit across the country and launching of an application ‘’Pak Nigehban’’ enabling users to see availability of beds and ventilators in real-time at various health centres. Similarly, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is instrumental in arranging more ventilators and providing portable breathing machines to save life in critical conditions. However, given the intensity of the situation and the direction in which we are heading now, these measures are not enough. We are belittling the importance, significance and relevance of lockdowns but researchers claim that wide-scale lockdowns including shop and school closures have reduced Covid-19 transmission rates in Europe enough to control its spread and may have averted more than three million deaths. We too have reasons to believe that the spread of the virus was very low when even partial lockdown was in place and now there is a dramatic surge due to lifting of restrictions. The warning of the Prime Minister is timely but mere launching of an appeal to the people would not avert the impending crisis if practical measures were not taken to enforce SOPs at all costs. The government claims that its foremost priority was to slow down the pace of spread of the virus but so far these claims are not accompanied by practical measures.
Worse yet to come
