WE WILL LIVE AND DIE WITH CORONA...............
The gravity of the situation is being drowned in the daily feeds of cold statistics and data released by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) to the media. Data on the number of tests being conducted, ICU beds and oxygen facility in hospitals country-wide. Figures regarding non-compliance with SOPs for Covid-19 containment, violations observed, shops sealed, industries closed, vehicles impounded and fines imposed for violators of the SOPs etc. etc. Bravo! But the question here is has all this really helped contain the spread of this disease.
While there is much talk about provision of additional ventilators to the hospitals, the fact is that there are not enough qualified technicians to operate these complex life-support machines. Probably this could be one reason why still 50 percent of ventilators in hospitals remain unused. This figure was given by the SAPM on Health this week.
Senior doctors including Professor Dr Javed Akram, vice chancellor of the University of Medical Sciences, have been flagging the point that operating ventilators is a highly complex task and if the oxygen and other vitals are not maintained at the right level, these can be fatal. That it could result in 100 per cent fatalities in patients on ventilators. Perhaps that explains why the recovery rate of patients on ventilators is dismal. Official data suggests 80 to 90 percent of corona patients on ventilators do not survive.
The actual super spreaders in Pakistan seem to be those advising and blowing the government’s trumpet, and above all the pied pipers who gave the go-ahead to relax restrictions. The lockdown virtually ended in May to open the floodgates to the unpredictable and lethal virus that has already gobbled up more than 423,000 human lives globally. And then not to forget the hyper judicial activism with the Supreme Court of Pakistan stepping in to order opening of all shops and malls even on weekends just prior to Eidul Fitr
. The argument advanced by the honorable Chief Justice was that all days are the same!
So what happened next is no secret. People declared war on markets and malls as if corona was an illusion and SOPs just a formality. Public transport is back on roads and the government has now also opened the doors for tourism. Another matter that petrol has become a rare commodity.
This week the World Health Organization (WHO) also issued a stern warning to Pakistan that it is now well into the danger zone of corona infections spiraling by the minute. WHO has advised immediate intermittent two-week lockdown. On Wednesday Dr. Javed Akram went a step further and appealed to the federal government to impose a curfew in the wake of alarmingly fast spread of the coronavirus that has over-burdened entire healthcare system with crippling effect. Pakistan eased restrictions even before waiting for the international prerequisite of flattening of the curve, sufficient testing capacity and developing proper surveillance systems. Relaxation in the lockdown was announced even before the beastly virus had peaked. Initially we were told the virus would peak in June but now the PM says it is expected in July or August. That we better learn to live (and die) with it, as all calls for a re-imposition of a lockdown have fallen on deaf ears.
The message from our top leadership (for now) is that it will only ensure stricter enforcement of SOPs and has urged people to be more responsible. Dr Mirza believes this will come through a behavioral change in the masses, as if in this health emergency we have the luxury of time to wait for the miracle to happen! So the PM has announced to launch his Corona Tigers– the untrained and inexperienced youth force- to aid the local administration. Going by the PTI government’s grand plans and misadventures, this force is more likely to become part of the problem