- Figures don’t tally with facts
The PTI government makes policies on the basis of hopes and wishes rather than ground realities. The PM continues to oppose a countrywide lockdown despite PTI led provincial governments imposing lockdowns and the NCC promptly extending them from time to time.
The PM’s team dealing with coronavirus often makes projections on the basis of unrealistic expectations. Federal Minister Asad Umar assured the nation that for quite some time there would be no shortage of medical equipment in the country which currently possesses. There are however reports of the equipment falling short next month when the cases are supposed to peak.
Last week SAPM (Special Assistant to the Prime Minister) Moeed Yusuf, another whizkid in the federal cabinet, assured us that there were about 100,000 Pakistanis stranded in 88 countries and in coming days the government’s focus would be on bringing them back at the earliest. Three days later he realized that he had failed to take into consideration two vital factors i.e., the extra large percentage of corona affectees among the expatriates and the paucity of quarantine facilities in the country. He has belatedly concluded that there is little hope of bringing them all back in a short time.
In mid-April SAPM Dr Zafar Mirza claimed that by the end of April the country would increase its testing capacity to 20,000 patients a day. A member of the NCOC raised the figure to 50,000. This turned out to be no more than a day dream. On Saturday Dr Mirza announced that the country had conducted a record 9,164 tests in a single day i.e., less than half promised last month. Dr Mirza had also claimed that the measures he took under the wise leadership of the PM had reduced the number of deaths. Mr Asad Umar thinks it is because of certain peculiarities of the region.
With too frequent flip-flops and second thoughts on the part of the country’s leadership not many would feel confident about its ability to steer the country out of the crisis.