The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that Pakistani authorities reimpose a strict, intermittent lockdown targeting localities with high coronavirus spread, as cases in the South Asian country increase exponentially since most restrictions were lifted last month. In a letter sent to the provincial governments on Sunday, WHO Pakistan chief Palitha Mahipala said the country did not meet any of the organisation’s six technical criteria for easing a lockdown. As of today, Pakistan does not meet any of the pre-requisite conditions for opening the lock down,” says the letter, shared with Al Jazeera on Wednesday. Pakistan’s government, led by Prime Minister Imran Khan, had imposed lockdown restrictions of varying strictness in different provinces, but lifted most measures in late May, ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr. The lifting of restrictions ushered in a skyrocketing of reported coronavirus cases, with daily infections rising from about 1,700 per day before the relaxation to 5,385 new cases on June 9, a single-day record. So far, five of the nine days in June have posted single-day case increase records. Pakistan currently has 113,702 cases of the coronavirus, with 2,312 deaths recorded so far, according to government data. In its letter, the WHO said Pakistan’s rate of coronavirus-positive patients was too high (24 percent), indicating that not enough testing was being done. The global body recommended that Pakistan ramp up daily testing to more than 50,000 per day. Current testing capacity is about half that number, with 23,799 patients tested for the coronavirus countrywide on Tuesday, according to government data. The WHO also said the country’s surveillance system to identify, test, isolate, medical care and contact tracing was “weak”. There is limited capacity to provide critical care [only 751 ventilators are allocated for COVID-19] and the population is not ready to adapt to change behaviour.
Asfandyar Khan
Islamabad
