- And two CMs don’t attend a meeting
The government has decided to go for a stricter lockdown in areas where outbreaks of the coronavirus are reported, after the first day of the end of the lockdown’s easing coincided with 1400 new cases and 30 more deaths. While it is clear that the new cases were not caused by the easing of the lockdowns, it was also evident that the Standard Operating Procedures so proudly proclaimed by the government for social distancing were not just being ignored, but more or less torn to pieces. This will result in a new surge in the number of cases, but it was also to be expected in view of the fact that there had been a prolonged lockdown (though it was not as strict as it should have been), combined with the easing coming just before Eidul Fitr. This Eid was counted on by the government and retailers for a revival of the economic activity that would have helped get rid of the economic downturn which was one of the side-effects of the lockdown.
However, where there was Eid shopping, there was bound to be the kind of pushing and shoving, bumping and jostling, that made complete nonsense of social distancing. It could be argued that Ramazan tarawih congregations and Friday congregations are also not following the prescribed SOPs, but their extent is comparatively limited: women and children form a tiny part of congregations, there is none of the physical contact Eid shopping. Locking down areas may not be all that effective. While mosques draw their congregations from their surrounding areas, shops draw customers from all over the city, and even out of the city. Both do have in common contact with strangers, which means that contact tracing is all that more difficult, and may be well-nigh impossible. In another televised address to the nation yesterday, the Prime Minister has claimed that Pakistan’s situation is less severe than projected and the real risk of not lifting the lockdown was the poorest dying of hunger.
True, the Prime Minister might also be feeling the heat from small businessmen and retailers, but that has merely meant that the country is in danger of suffering a second wave even before the first wave is over. The absence of the Chief Ministers of Sindh and Balochistan from the meeting which decided on a partial return to lockdown does not bode well. Someone did not take the pandemic seriously enough, which bodes ill for the future.
