Covid-19 and precautions

It is difficult to swallow the Sindh government’s decision to allow markets and shops to open from 6am to 6pm in the winter season. Expecting shops to open so early in the cold weather is unrealistic. It is like seeking relief from cold by putting on the air-conditioner. This, however, should not come as a surprise as the bureaucracy is notorious for making strange decisions the world over. It is for such reasons that people in Sindh are opposing the provincial government’s decision.

What is more surprising is that politicians, purely for the sake of safeguarding their own privileges, are setting a bad example by holding public meetings in different parts of the country in the midst of a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic. Not only are they holding large public meetings, but they are exhorting people to attend these meetings in large numbers, in complete disregard of the fact that large gatherings at one place act as a fast spreader of the deadly virus. An important reason for the present surge in corona cases in Balochistan is possibly the recent PDM meeting in Quetta. Even now when the government has banned public meetings and other gatherings, opposition parties appear to be in a defiant mood as they seem determined to go ahead with their planned meetings. It is the same opposition parties that had been critical of most of the government’s decisions during the first wave of the pandemic. The PDM’s double standards are in full play.

Traders are one in opposing the provincial government’s decision. They are of the view that the present timings are enabling law enforcers to make hay while the sun shines. They allow shops to remain open beyond the closing time if their palms are greased. Moreover, the closing time is giving the opposite of the desired results as more people converge on markets near the closing time. They are also opposed to the two-day complete closure of markets. Undoubtedly, the fatigue factor is also there. What is needed is proper implementation of precautionary measures. This is a reasonable course, of course.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2020.

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