What we do know

There is a lot we do not yet know about the Covid-19 pandemic. There is reason to believe that the total number of cases and fatalities are significantly underreported. We also do not fully understand the cluster behaviour of the virus — why do some cities get affected more than others. Questions about the immune response are important, and far from fully understood. Which, if any, the current drugs in trial may end up working, we do not know. We can only hope for the best.

But there are things we do know. We know that it’s a viral disease. We also know the general structure of the coronavirus and the sequence of the virus’ genetic material.

Most importantly, we know that this was not something that has anything to do with the 5G network, or a strategy of the deep state, or a conspiracy hatched in the UN to control world population. None of these things are true — they are nonsense, bizarre and detrimental to the effort to save people’s lives. I am sure there are more but these are a few of the theories that I have personally heard from family and friends, including those who have studied engineering at reasonably reputable institutions.

All these are consequences of poor knowledge in fundamental science. They are also reflective of a strange combination of playing the victim (i.e. a grand conspiracy against us) and making humans all powerful over nature (i.e. a grand conspiracy hatched in a lab). If science is not quite your thing, perhaps history ought to be. Epidemics have been a part of history and have nothing to do with the 5G network. The 1918 epidemic that caused over 50 million deaths (majority in India) was not because of some new telegraph or telephone. It was a viral infection that combined with secondary bacterial infection spread through the world. Plagues have been a part of human history for centuries. No secret lab was producing rats to kill a quarter of Londoners during the Great Plague of 1665. The argument about the UN unleashing a virus to control the human population is so silly that it’s laughable. I have a number of friends who are remarkably dedicated and work for several UN institutions. Anyone who has ever worked for or with the UN would be hard pressed to call the organisation efficient or even effective. It is hard to even organise a single meeting of a dozen people. They are definitely not in the virus business; they can barely keep their own business running.

That said, there are other epidemics in th recent history, which have been triggered largely by our collective decisions and actions. The ongoing cholera epidemic in Yemen is driven largely by the war and its consequences. While the war didn’t create the pathogen, the infrastructure needed to control the disease and cure the sick was destroyed by the conflict. I would be interested in hearing the thoughts of colleagues, which side we are on?

Coming back to Covid-19, it is important the government take control of the narrative. Last week, the PM told the nation that Pakistanis are not immune. He is right. He has a unique platform to engage and must clarify that this is not another flu or that it’s not deadly. The governments, federal and provincial, need to send a clear message to the nation, and push back against the widely perpetuating conspiracy theories. We have to let scientists, epidemiologists, virologists and infectious disease experts take centre stage.

We don’t know how or when it will end but we do, or perhaps should, know what we ought not to be doing. We shouldn’t believe or forward the next text on Whatsapp that explains the big game being played.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2020.

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