Covid-19 protocol breach: Pakistan and its cricket team’s story of ignorance

Pakistani players did in NZ what the whole country has been doing throughout the pandemic: ignore the guidelines

KARACHI:

Pandemics are curses which are inevitable, but like many other contagious diseases which are there to infect humans around the year, there are ways of reducing its spread and in turn the death of millions.

With the arrival of Covid-19, the modern world saw what a pandemic can do to the global economy and how everyday human lives were nearly brought to a halt. Sports were also not immune to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the closure of stands for the fans has jolted the sporting associations, federations and even the world bodies governing them.

After the world rode out the first wave of the coronavirus, one country stood out with its preventive procedures, stopped the human-to-human transfer of Covid-19 and brought their cases to zero for a considerable period – New Zealand.

The country then slowly and gradually opened its door to outsiders, but with strict protocols in place to stop people from bringing the virus into their country. It opened its door to travellers and even businesses and now it has opened its doors for the Pakistan cricket team.

However, with strict rules and regulations to avoid the spread of virus, every person coming into the country has to go through a certain quarantine procedure.

The Pakistan cricket contingent was also asked to follow the process of a 14-day quarantine and was asked to even limit player-to-player contact; however, Pakistani players did what the whole country has been doing throughout the pandemic: ignore the guidelines.

CCTV footage of cricketers ignoring the protocols and not wearing masks didn’t just cause embarrassment for the country, but also brought into spotlight the ignorance of Pakistanis as a whole with regards to the pandemic.

Opening of shopping areas during the first wave to celebrate Eids, which saw hundreds gather in close vicinities, highlighted the obliviousness of Pakistanis to the fact that the virus spreads through contact and social distancing is not just there to be written on a sign board, but it has to be followed practically as well.

On a different note, holding rallies and boasting about the huge numbers that gathered to support the politicians during a pandemic also shows how seriously Pakistanis are taking the virus - not. While the world is fighting the pandemic as their first preference with lockdowns and strict social distancing policies, Pakistan’s current opposition in the Parliament thinks that dethroning the sitting government through country-wide protests and gatherings is more important than fighting the virus, even if it comes at the cost of a common man’s life.

Coming back, some former Pakistani cricketers were angry after the players in New Zealand were given a warning after the Covid-19 protocol breaches, but someone needs to remind them that it was this stern stand which helped New Zealand beat the virus when the world was still wondering what to do.

Also, there is no sane way to defend the ignorant behaviour of our players, who, like their countrymen, were and still are not taking the pandemic seriously.

All in all, the news of Pakistani players caught breaching the Covid-19 protocols set by New Zealand should not have surprised anyone who lives in Pakistan at least. They are just an ignorant bunch belonging to an ignorant country where, even after hundreds of deaths due to the pandemic, some still believe that coronavirus is a hoax and nothing more.