Showing concerns over the letters sent to the Punjab and Sindh governments by the World Health Organisation (WHO) about the rapid increase in coronavirus infections in Pakistan, experts have said the governments have miserably failed to implement the six points the world health body has suggested for containing COVID-19.
In a press release issued on Wednesday, the Sindh Social Scientists Forum (SSSF), a social think-tank, appealed to the federal and provincial governments to pay attention to and implement all recommendations of WHO.
Citing the WHO’s findings, the think-tank said the governments had not forcibly implemented lockdown policies and had instead eased lockdown very quickly. The SSSF said the surge in new coronavirus cases had hit Pakistan, where 108,316 infection cases and 2,172 deaths had been recorded so far.
“The government lifted the lockdown on May 9 citing economic pressures. This alarming situation was expected when the government lifted the lockdown due to festivities of Eid,” it said. “Although cases were increasing, the government bowed down under pressure from businessmen. Now the country is facing a great surge in new cases.”
The think-tank said WHO stressed the need to mitigate the risk to the health system, which was almost at the verge of collapsing. “We are showing our serious concern about the surge in cases and now one in five people have tested positive for COVID-19 over the last two weeks, compared with one in 10 before the lockdown was lifted,” it said, citing the government statistics.
The forum stressed the need for the implementation of WHO’s recommended six conditions for lifting restrictions, including the disease transmission being under control, being able to detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact, essential places having established preventive measures, and communities being educated, engaged and empowered to “live under a new normal”.
The think-tank strongly recommended the government to implement these recommendations about the adoption of a two weeks’ off and two weeks’ on strategy, which clearly showed a sign of seriousness.