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Army deployment (Dawn Editorial 29 April, 2021)

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IT is not a moment too soon for Pakistan to take extraordinary measures against the spread of Covid-19 within its borders. Reports emerging from India, showing horrific scenes of people dying on the street gasping for breath, offer a glimpse of what could lie in store for us if we continue to treat SOPs in a cavalier manner.

A few days ago, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said that the army would be deployed to assist the police in enforcing SOPs to stem the spread of the disease. All the provinces as well as Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan have followed suit. Calling in the armed forces to assist local law enforcement is a very significant step taken in times of grave emergencies, and while it is unfortunate, the present situation arguably does qualify. All indicators are that matters may get worse before they get better; taking extra precautions now will ensure that the ‘worst’ will not push our health facilities beyond breaking point. As per a US-based institute’s projected model, if the current trend continues deaths from Covid-19 in Pakistan will cross 28,500 by Aug 1 from 17,500 plus today. On Tuesday, 201 people died from the disease, the highest number of fatalities recorded since the start of the pandemic. Yesterday, 5,214 patients were in critical care, far more than were in that condition during the peak of June last year.

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On the positive side, efforts are being made to ensure sufficient stores of oxygen for patients of Covid-19. Elective surgeries have been cancelled in public and private hospitals across Pakistan, and oxygen is to be diverted from non-essential industries to health facilities with coronavirus wards. But as they say prevention is better than cure, and getting vaccinated must become a priority for the citizenry. At the moment the availability of vaccines is not the issue; people’s lackadaisical response is a bigger concern. According to SAPM on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, 3m doses have reached Pakistan since March 30 and contracts have been finalised for 30m more. The latest batch of 1m doses arrived from China on Sunday. There seems to be some indication that the situation in India is spurring more people here to get their jabs. On Tuesday, 117,852 vaccinations were carried out — the first time the figure has crossed 100,000 in a day.

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But we have a long way to go. The 2.1m vaccinations administered so far are sufficient for less than 1pc population coverage. Pakistan should have been further ahead in this process, but the vaccine roll-out was inexplicably sluggish and the awareness campaign urging people to register for their jabs not robust enough to counter the prevailing vaccine scepticism. Nevertheless, with the pace of inoculation picking up and the army reinforcing the effort to ensure that SOPs are followed, one can hope that we will avoid the grim scenario our neighbours find themselves in.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2021

Dawn Editorail 28 April, 2021.

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