PESHAWAR: Despite the rapid increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and the subsequent deaths from the viral disease particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the public is yet to take the pandemic seriously.
Many people still don’t bother to adopt the precautionary measures even though it could make the situation worse.
The government has announced a lockdown that has been put in place for about a month. The shopping malls have been shut down, public transport is off the roads and educational institutions are closed to help the people maintain social distancing and avoid getting infected, but the standard operating procedures (SOPs) are hardly followed even in the provincial capital.
Though the situation in urban localities is not satisfactory in terms of following the SOPs and practicing social distancing, the people in rural areas do not bother at all to wear facemasks and avoid hand-shakes let alone using hand sanitizers and avoiding gatherings.
In remote districts, the personnel of the law-enforcement agencies, doctors and paramedics on duty can be seen wearing facemasks, but the shopkeepers, customers, drivers, passersby and labourers do not care about the safety guidelines.
The social distancing is also not followed while offering congregational prayers at masques. It can be termed failure of
the state to ensure implementation of the official guidelines or lack of awareness and education on the part of public to protect their own lives by adopting precautionary measures.
Generally, the things are not going in the right direction.
Notwithstanding the fact that the society is not taking the situation seriously, the government measures and SOPs also cannot be termed rational and based on ground realities.
The opening of the essential commodities shops in phases is also possible to discourage rush.
For instance, closing of milk shops and tandoor at 4pm has no logic.
These shops should instead be allowed to open after 4pm when other shops are closed while business related to construction industry, automobile, grocery, fruit and vegetables, meat and chicken could be allowed to operate during the day.
Even shops selling clothes and shoes can be allowed to open for a few hours daily or a day or two on a weekly basis to avoid rush for Eid shopping, but on the condition of fully abiding by the set rules and guidelines.
Strict implementation of the guidelines, including the use of facemasks, can make the lockdown result-oriented.
The people should be persuaded to ensure physical distancing or else the situation could get worse. Only issuing statements and holding press conferences will not work unless and until implementation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended guidelines is ensured.
