The dreaded coronavirus pandemic is spreading very fast because our government is confused. After easing the lockdown there was a huge rush of Eid shoppers. In a panic, the state reduced the days reserved for shopping from five to four in a week in the hope that this will reduce the number of shoppers.
What has actually happened is that the number of shoppers has remained the same, but now they are crammed into four days instead of five days. This increased the density of persons in each market, thereby increasing the chances of human contact and consequently a rise in the number of corona cases that are being reported. The other factor is that in the melee to get all their Eid shopping done, the people ignored the SOPs while visiting markets and public spaces. Therefore the people who were supposed to exercise caution and help check the pandemic, actually ended up in spreading it by their carelessness. One is, therefore, inclined to agree with senior medical authorities when they say that it is important to fear the spread of coronavirus and not be complacent about fighting it.
Zill-e-Huma
Rawalpindi