Pakistan is heading for a grim milestone of 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases but the Government has made it clear that there would be no going back to a lockdown of the country.
By Friday evening, provines and the federal territory reported more than 9o,000 cases and 1800 deaths. Healthcare specialists say the country lacks in facilities, especially in far off areas, to deal with the situation if cases grow exponentially in the next few weeks.
As more testing is being done, cases pile up across the provinces including Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan, and capital Islamabad.
Additionally, people are not observing measures to fend off the virus including wearing a face mask in pubic and avoiding gatherings.
Although, the World Health Organization said COVID-19 is spreading in Pakistan but it is not exploding, yet a chronic lack of health facilities threatens to take a toll on patients.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Pakistan cannot afford to go back to another lockdown, and asked people to observe precautionary measures.
“It is important for you to ensure that people follow SOPs (standard operating procedures) because we can’t go back to lockdown, this country cannot afford it,” he said.
Khan’s government has formed a large force of 175,000 volunteers, called the Corona Relief Tiger Force, to help the government curb spread of the highly infectious disease, which is already testing the poor inadequate healthcare services.
“If we can slow down the [infection] curve because of SOPs, it will reduce pressure on hospitals,” Khan said while underscoring the need for reopening the economy in the interest of the disadvantaged segments and daily wage earners.
“How much more money can Ehsaas give?” he questioned referring to the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program that has disbursed aid among the deserving people.
