MINDFUL of the fact that there was no guarantee that Covid-19 cases would not rise sharply in the country in coming weeks, Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced setting up of a “Corona Tigers Relief Force” which would enlist youth volunteers from across the country to help deal with Corona Virus relief efforts. Talking to newsmen in Islamabad on Friday, he said the Government was preparing for worst-case scenario as the situation was fluid. It is a reality that so far the virus has not spread as swiftly in Pakistan as in some other countries including Italy, Iran, Spain, United States and France and majority of the affected people have travel history. However, given the ground reality that people across the country are not taking the advice for voluntary social-distancing as seriously as they should, there are apprehensions that the number of cases could increase sharply in the days to come, which would complicate the situation both for the people and the Government. There is, therefore, no scope for complacency and prompt and timely measures are needed to cope with the situation and the best option would be to take stringent measures to enforce the concept of social-distancing. In case the situation aggravates, it would be difficult even for the Tiger Force to operate smoothly in view of health hazards and proper arrangements will have to be made to ensure protection of their lives as well. The speed at which the tally of the affected people increased in Pakistan on Friday should ring alarm bells but the urgency of the required level is yet to be seen. It should be a matter of concern that the number of new cases increased by 152 in one day with Punjab surpassing Sindh. The decision of the Prime Minister to set up Tiger Relief Force is an indication that he was anticipating complete lockdown despite his personal reservations. But we have no time to waste and whatever has to be done should be done on a priority basis. Lifting of ban on inter-provincial and inter-city movement of goods transport is understandable but this should not have been imposed in the first place as disruption of supplies could trigger another emergency in the country. The Prime Minister has logic when he says incremental response was essential because of peculiar circumstances of Pakistan and that the virus is a new phenomenon and time is required to come up with well-thought-out decisions and strategies to deal with the challenge. However, there are best practices and role models that can be replicated to fight the war against virus effectively from the very beginning. There have been mistakes that should not be repeated. The question arises as to why the Government failed to establish a proper medical facility at Taftan despite the fact that Corona Virus came to Pakistan from Iran. Then why people were allowed to proceed to their areas without mandatory quarantine and proper tests? And if infected people dispersed in different parts of the country why we have no record of their whereabouts? And in case we have their addresses then reaching out to them should be a matter of one telephone call to the concerned Deputy Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners and SHOs. As for relief measures, Imran Khan declared his intention to institute “Prime Minister’s Corona Fund” next week to provide money to labourers and daily-wagers so they could buy food for their families. The Government will also register all such people in its Ehsaas programme. It is laudable that philanthropists all over the country have already started distribution of relief items especially foodstuff among poor families and different departments are announcing contributions from salaries to help mitigate sufferings of the people. The Government is rightly insisting that there was no shortage of food in the country but some elements are exploiting the situation to create artificial shortage and price-hike. The centre and the provinces should take strong administrative action against all such elements as they are enemies of the humanity. It is to be kept in mind that a national response is essential to cope with the situation but so far all the provincial governments as well as federal government are acting on their own, which results in wastage of time and resources.
