Covid-19: Declining trend

IN an encouraging development, data of both infected people and deaths reflects a declining trend in the spread of Covid-19 but one may not totally agree with Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, who is also the head of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Corona, when he claims the reduction in cases was due to better and positive attitude of the people and effective administrative measures. He rejected the perception that the decline in Corona cases was due to reduction in testing numbers adding that decline was primarily due to a nearly 60 per cent reduction in positivity.
We fully agree with NCOC which said on Thursday that wearing masks and compliance of standard operating procedures (SOPs) by the public were only measures to contain COVID-19 outbreak in the country but nowhere in the country the compliance is seen at a level that should help check the spread. Instead, scenes in cities and towns portray a care-free attitude on the part of the people as hardly a fraction of the population is seen wearing masks or observing social distancing. Of course, some measures are in place in some offices and banks but grave violations are being observed in markets, bazaars, mosques and other places where people gather. There is, indeed, reduction in cases for whatever reasons but the situation might take an ugly turn if precautionary measures are not taken on the occasion of Eid and Moharram. The NCOC has rightly issued directions to the provincial governments to ensure strict compliance of precautionary measures in cattle markets and hopefully the provincial authorities would pass on similar instructions at the district and tehsil levels. There is also need for launching of renewed media campaign to sensitize people about the dangers that still exist and the need for strict observance of SOPs, otherwise we may witness a surge in post-Eid and Moharram periods. It is appreciable that as before, President Dr. Arif Alvi is once again active and is contributing his share in addressing the challenge. He held a meeting with prominent Shia leaders on Thursday where the Government and religious leaders agreed upon various standard operating procedures (SOPs) to contain the spread of Corona virus during the mourning rituals of Muharram-ul-Haram, including processions as well as gatherings. Among the agreed SOPs included social distancing in gatherings, marking for sitting, no-entry without mask, no use of carpet, chlorination of mats permitted to use outside Imam-bargah only, and brief and time-bound Majalis. Ban on the participation of old-aged people, hand shake or hugging, bringing along prayer mats, Sajda Gah or beads had also been agreed upon, besides the take-away of food instead of servings. The mourners would not be allowed to touch Alam (flag), Taazia and Shabih. The religious scholars extended cooperation in the initial phase of the spread of the virus as well as during holy month of Ramzan and hopefully they would extend a helping hand again now as this is public service involving lives and health of the citizens. Adherence to SOPs would be in the interest of the participants themselves but there are serious questions about maintenance of social distancing during processions. There should be clear instructions in this regard and violations must be taken seriously. We would also urge the Government that instead of closing eyes to the ground realities, it should look into the reasons and factors that discourage people from approaching medical facilities. This is a fact that fewer people opt for testing or consult doctors in hospitals despite development of symptoms similar to Coronavirus mainly because of the attitude of the doctors and para-medical staff. People in the medical profession were described as hero in the war against Covid-19 as rightly so as many of them got infections and laid down their lives during discharge of their professional responsibilities. However, with the passage of time, there are complaints about non-professional behaviour on the part of doctors and paramedical staff as well as lack of required care for patients in hospitals. Therefore, it is high time that such complaints are thoroughly probed, otherwise medical facilities provided by the Government would become irrelevant for people.