COVID-19 has taken Pakistan by storm. Initially, there were only about 10,000 Covid-19 cases across Pakistan. However, as the government eased the restrictions and let a few markets reopen, Covid-19 cases rose phenomenally and now we have over 80,000 cases.

Recently, the lockdown has been further eased by allowing public transport to run, which led to an increase of 10,000 more cases in just two days. This is considered to be the sharpest rise in positive coronavirus cases as of late.

The fact is the government itself never took any measures to prevent the disease from spreading at the outset of the outbreak of the virus. To make things worse, people opposed the lockdown and never took any safety measures in the real sense.

The government eased the lockdown to let the people prepare for Eid and now it has even allowed the transport to operate. This is making things worse, for if you have not enough transport, there is more physical contact and chances of the spread of the virus.

More lives are being lost every day. Just imagine how much worse it could become if steps to contain virus are not taken.

Zuhaib Shah

Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2020