THE hospitals in Pakistan are on the verge of saturation due to the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country, but the masses do not appear to care enough about this alarming fact. Amid the ongoing crisis, I have recently witnessed a mega party arrangement on the Allama Shabbir Ahmed Usmani Road, from Maskan Chowrangi to Disco Bakery, which is a route considered one the busiest in Gulshan-i-Iqbal area. More than 300 people were sitting closely together, and the sight was disappointing, to say the least.

Despite a loss of thousands of precious lives in the preceding year or so, our people are still not taking the situation seriously. The authorities are requested to direct local police to ensure that the standard operating procedures were followed religiously.

A lockdown in the country will be of no use if the government fails to stop the blatant violation of SOPs.

Fazalullah Qureshi

Karachi

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2021