Ex-MPA wants Muslims to offer ‘dua’ to overcome coronavirus

PESHAWAR: As the coronavirus is spreading across the country, people have been coming up with interesting observations and suggestions.

Many are bizarre as those tweeting on social media or making their videos viral come up with remedies for the coronavirus. These include an addict proposing the use of opium to deal with coronavirus and charlatans offering concoctions of herbal medicines to do the trick. Most of these can be dismissed out of hand, but some useful suggestions are also being made. A retired government official, Islam Badshah belonging to Dargai in Malakand district, noted that the biometric SIM verification could become a source of transmitting the coronavirus. “Due to the ongoing situation of coronavirus and keeping in mind its mode of transmission, I want to add that biometric verification could act as a tool in spreading the virus as a result of the thumb impression. I would suggest that this method should be put off and it would be better if it isn’t practiced until the virus is contained,” he explained.

A physician, Dr Shaukat from Mardan district, felt the government should invest in the healthcare staff, including doctors, by equipping them to enable them to do a proper job in a safe environment while treating the coronavirus patients. He said the medical staff deployed at the quarantine centres and hospitals dedicated for treatment of coronavirus patients should be the first to be provided the personal protective equipment (PPE) as they are in the frontline of the battle against this disease.

Dr Shaukat said the quarantine centres should be able to provide basic services such as drinking water, toilets, beddings, food, etc to the coronavirus patients who are already feeling worried and depressed. He pointed out that a number of people have escaped from the quarantine centres in different parts of the country and some have complained that these places lacked basic services. “The isolation centres should make patients comfortable and confident. They should stay there instead of running away,” he remarked.

The nurses who play a leading role in taking care of patients and are more at risk due to the nature of their work have also been voicing complaints. A group of nurses in a video message said the only thing provided to them by the hospital administration was a mask and yet they are expected to handle coronavirus patients. The student nurses are more vocal in highlighting their complaints as they believe they are taken for granted.

Finally, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly member Malik Salahuddin from Dera Ismail Khan told The News that it is time to seek forgiveness of Allah for all our sins. “The Muslims must pray to Allah to seek forgiveness and ask for his blessings to overcome the threat posed by coronavirus. Without ‘dua’ I don’t think the virus would go away. The prime minister should be the first to perform ‘dua’,” he argued.