Pray and work from home. It is not just about you.
KARACHI: The negligence and laid-back attitude of the Pakistani government is shocking. It is impossible to understand what is going in the minds of our politicians and why they are behaving like infants. They are supposed to run the country and protect the citizens, instead they cower away from making important and substantial decisions. It seems as if the government doesn’t care about the plight of the poor.
What they seem to be more focused on is money. Someone needs to tell the prime minister that there are other things apart from the economy. But he doesn’t seem to be aware in the slightest about the ground realities in Pakistan. His recent address about the virus was unhelpful.
Steps could have easily been taken to nip the problem in the bud, but due to negligence the situation has suddenly escalated and now more than 300 people across Pakistan have tested positive. Since testing kits are limited and not everyone is getting tested or are even aware of the disease, only time will tell how far it has spread.
The government should have analysed Iran’s situation because it borders with Pakistan and should have taken appropriate steps. What the government did instead was create deplorable quarantine centres and many people coming back from Iran were let go without being properly tested or isolated.
People are still coming in and the poor amongst them are not being quarantined properly. Only time will tell what the real damage will be to Pakistan. As it stands people should refrain from social gatherings and go out only when necessary. Social distancing is important as the less people interact the less the virus will spread. Pray and work from home. It is not just about you.
Rehan Shehbaz
Published in The Express Tribune, March 20th, 2020.
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