OUR government and citizens should be under no illusions about the small number of people who have tested positive as suffering from coronavirus. The small number of infected people diagnosed does not reflect the ground reality — which is that barely a few thousand people have been tested.

The World Health Organization gave a clear direction to all countries: “We have a simple message for all countries: test, test, and test”. Why is the United States, Italy and Germany’s tally of affected people increasing? Simple because these countries are testing nearly 300,000 people per day. On the other hand, Pakistan is testing hardly 10 per cent of the number that these countries are testing in a day.

In Pakistan, we should not compare the number with the numbers of these countries. This number is just an illusion, because we don’t have enough testing kits to expose the affected people.

Jawad Akhter Siddiqui
Sukkur

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2020