Pakistan is seeing another wave of COVID-19 in the country. On Saturday, the country saw over 2,000 cases reported for the second consecutive day, which means more than a 20 per cent increase in cases. These numbers are the highest since July. Seventeen people lost their lives to the coronavirus on Saturday as per the data from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). Geo’s Arshad Waheed Chaudhry also lost his battle against COVID-19 on Saturday.
After successfully controlling the pandemic, Pakistan’s new cases also point to the fact that people have become complacent in following the SOPs necessary till a vaccine comes out and is readily available across the country. From less than 6,000 active cases in September, we now have 24,938 active cases. While the NCOC has imposed a ban on indoor weddings in major cities with “high positivity and higher disease spread potential”, marriage hall owners are refusing to follow the government’s guidelines. They say that the new SOPs would not just lead to financial problems for the marriage hall owners but thousands of employees and businesses associated with the wedding industry would also suffer economic marginalisation.
Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood tweeted yesterday: “We have convened an important meeting of provincial education ministers on Monday at 11 am to discuss the latest coronavirus situation in the country. As stated before health of students is our no one priority.” Most schools across the country have reopened. Punjab’s Education Minister Dr Murad Raas also tweeted that there is a meeting of all provincial education ministers tomorrow to discuss the prevailing condition of COVID-19. “In my opinion, we should focus on a Smart Lockdown rather than an across the board shutdown of Schools,” tweeted Raas. NCOC has decided to close cinemas, theatres and shrines.
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The government will now have to decide what measures to take next. The new wave is turning out to be quite dangerous. The opposition parties are taking out rallies across the country while the government, too, has held some jalsas recently. Not many were seen following the SOPs, i.e. wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, etc.
Such large gatherings apart from social gatherings will lead to more increase in the number of corona cases. It is time that all political parties as well as the people of Pakistan show responsibility before this new wave turns into a nightmare. Some organisations in the country have started implementing work from home again. Others may have to follow in case there is an increase in cases.
There have also been some instances of faulty test results in recent months. Some people who have tested positive have had their tests done the next day from a different laboratory only to find out they were negative. The government also needs to increase testing across the country. We hope that this time around, the people will follow proper SOPs so that the new wave can be curtailed as soon as possible.
