On a rampage

The Covid-19 coronavirus is now proliferating in Pakistan at a frightening rate. On May 22, the number of confirmed Covid cases in the country totalled 50,694. This figure nearly doubled to 98,943 on June 7 — i.e. an addition of nearly 50,000 cases in a period of 16 days. The tally swelled by another 50,000 cases or so, but in half the number of days (eight), standing at 146,254 as of June 15 (yesterday). This shows a little less than 200% increase in 24 days in the rate at which the deadly virus is mushrooming in Pakistan, taking it to the sixth rank among countries with highest number of new cases.

No wonder Asad Umar — the Chairman of the National Command and Operation Centre that is supervising the affairs related to Covid-19 — sees the number of cases of the infection exceeding one million by the end of next month. During a press conference on Sunday, Umar, who is also the Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms, claimed that wearing masks is a verified way of curbing the spread of Covid-19 by up to 50%, alongside warning the public that the government would start taking administrative action against those not wearing masks or maintaining social distancing.

Umar’s estimate looks miniscule when compared with Imperial College London’s predictions about the spread of the virus in Pakistan in case lockdowns are not imposed to contain it. However, since Pakistan’s economic situation does not allow a full-fledged lockdown — which has otherwise proven to be an effective way of breaking the transmission chain of the virus, thus containing its spread — the country is mainly relying on the general public as well as the business class to exercise social distancing and adhere to the SOPs to keep the lethal virus at bay and help the infection curve to start plateauing.

Unfortunately, people are not as responsive as the situation warrants. What is even more worrisome is the fact that a big percentage of people are not even ready to accept the presence of a deadly pandemic in their midst. While the government has adopted a selective lockdown strategy to seal areas with serious virus infestation, it must also go tough on violation of SOPs.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2020.

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