PAKISTAN was ranked among the third-riskiest countries for
Coronavirus in a recent study conducted by the Deep Knowledge Group on nations and their safety against the pandemic. Pakistan came at 148th position out of a total of 200 nations with a safety score of 370 (the highest being 752).
The 250-page report should serve as an eye-opener for planners and decision-makers as it exposes claims about efficacy of the mechanism in place to handle the situation arising out of Covid-19. The fact that the study monitored and evaluated factors such as quarantine efficiency, monitoring and detection, health readiness and government efficiency in arriving at the conclusions, indicate slackness on the part of governments in responding to the challenge thrown by the virus. The prevailing situation in Pakistan also confirms conclusions of the study as quarantine facilities have all along been under criticism, monitoring and detection process is still ineffective and people are reluctant to visit hospitals even if they have developed symptoms due to chaotic conditions there and attitude of doctors and paramedical staff. As a cumulative effect of overall deficient approach, the number of affected people has crossed the mark of one hundred thousand with five thousand new cases reported for two consecutive days on Saturday and Sunday. As the situation is getting out of control, federal and provincial governments as well as relevant institutions may sit together to review the situation in the context of rising cases, careless attitude of citizens and deficiency in the strategy.
