SOPs forsaken at first sign of Covid recovery

Experts warn that acting prematurely may have consequences as observed during previous waves

KARACHI:

If anything, being hit with several waves of coronavirus in less than two years should have taught the people of Karachi that throwing caution to the wind is never the wisest idea.

However, as Karachi manages to falter out of its fifth and most dangerous spell of Covid-19 so far, the city and its citizens appear to have made yet another gamble, returning to their usual, virus-friendly ways.

Until a few weeks ago, the virus positivity ratio was lingering around an all-time high of 42 per cent in the port city, which after jostling local administration out of its wits, has now plummeted to nine per cent, showing promising signs of recovery.

In this regard, health experts, gathering from past trends, have encouraged citizens to continue maintaining anti-viral protocols prescribed by the government, if the pandemic is to be kept at bay.

However, as all harbingering once again falls on deaf ears, the decrease in virus cases appears to have emboldened people to make their parties fuller, events bigger, and weddings larger than life.

“No one wears facemasks anymore, open-air venues have become too expensive for the average person to afford, halls and banquets have abandoned enforcing SOPs, and social distancing has become a concept of the past,” said Mohammad Fahim, a vendor associated with the wedding business describing the new normal.

Despite the city’s wedding hall association’s president Rana Raees maintains that all wedding halls in Karachi are still enforcing anti-coronavirus SOPs within their premises, Taranum Naz, a resident of Karachi claims that in her experience, the ongoing wedding season has been the most reckless in two years.

“At first, the people were still hesitant about hosting grand events and mingling with people, so even when the government wasn’t policing, people would try their best to not get infected. But now, after being vaccinated and boostered, they seem to have lost that fear, going on to host all kinds of parties in full swing,” she remarked.

According to Imran Ulhaq, a welfare worker who has been associated with coronavirus relief efforts for the past two years, it is similar callousness that led to viral spikes in the past.

“Apart from the average person forsaking SOPs, political parties have also closed their eyes to the pandemic, hosting mass sit-ins and protests without any safety practices to condemn the new local government law." 

Another welfare worker Ahmed Siddiqui, adding to Haq’s claims, pointed out that the latest cricket tournament being hosted in Karachi could also be the city’s latest super-spreader if caution is not observed.

“The past year we had to postpone the tournament due to a sudden spike in cases, but this year instead of learning from the past, the stadium has been full to the brim with barely anyone wearing a mask or adhering to social distancing policies, commented Aafreen, who attended one of the cricket matches.

The government, on the other hand, maintains that it is still reviewing the situation in Karachi and will react according to the prognosis of its experts.

“In the meanwhile, the citizens should however continue to adhere to SOPs and limit their gatherings if we are to avoid another spell of Covid-19,” stressed Sindh Chief Minister’s Special Assistant Waqar Mehdi while speaking to The Express Tribune.