By Adeel Ahmed
SOME are calling it alarming, others inevitable. Still others unfortunate. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s decision to reopen everything—from industries to transport to offices—is getting a mixed reaction from people in Pakistan. However, in the face of gloomy data, the premier’s decision is likely to see a greater rise in coronavirus infections.
The decision, made by Mr Khan after a meeting of the NCC which reflected on the speedy surge in daily new cases and deaths, barely had a prevention plan. The strategy, instead, according to the premier, is to depend on citizen responsibility. He urged citizens to take precautions, otherwise they will continue to get infected and die. Mr Khan went on to suggest that the people will have to learn to live with it, as the virus will spread until a vaccine is available.
Which leads one to infer that thousands more will contract the contagion and the death toll will rise if the government does not formulate effective strategies while it awaits a vaccine that is at least a year away from development and distribution. It appears as though the top leadership is ignorant of the gravity of the crisis or the chilling COVID-19 data. Data and news reports are vital indicators of what lies ahead and merits a closer examination.
Pakistan now figures in the list of the world’s top 10 countries with regard to the alarming death toll and infections that are relentlessly on the rise. Only in May, 1,100 people lost their lives to the deadly virus in the country, with 54,000plus confirmed cases in one month. Health authorities in Lahore have, in a survey, projected that a staggering 680,000 people in the city may have contracted the virus.
While the size of the survey can be questionable and one can also ask why its results are different from official figures, it is upsetting that the Punjab government overlooked this study and its practical recommendations. The worst is imminent — a situation foreseen by Mr Asad Umar, who said violations of SOPs committed by people over Eid would be felt by the mid of June. Strangely, in spite of this concern, Mr Umar has also opposed a lockdown unless the healthcare infrastructure is over-stressed.
Perhaps our leaders will comprehend the situation better if they themselves, God forbid, start getting infected or if they see the panic and gloom in hospitals’ emergency rooms. Hospital staff are contracting the virus and dying from it, while patients are no longer being accepted due to lack of space. But that’s not a problem for the ruling elite who have the best healthcare facilities at their disposal.
Even worse, rather than focus on increasing healthcare capacity and considering an effective plan to limit transmission, the government is talking about tourism. No one will travel to Pakistan if the infection rates and deaths continue to climb. It’s still not too late to revisit the decision in order to reduce the transmission rate. We would be wise enough to wait until the curve is flattened, as other countries which are now slowly reopening have done. Otherwise, people of this country may be in for a bigger catastrophe that will be impossible to control.
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