WILL EVERYTHING BE THE SAME AS BEFORE ON MARCH 15?
Mommy! Will it never be the same again?
A frightened face of a girl in an advertisement. Whenever I hear this it takes me to the COVID-19 swing. Invasion of this global terrible plague. Its devastation. The helplessness of humanity is embedded in it. The epidemic that started in Wuhan, China in the last days of 2019 has engulfed the whole world. Everyone’s routine has changed. The importance of home has increased. Life is online. The World Health Organization (WHO) says human beings will not be able to stop the spread of the virus this year. Children around the world are asking their mothers if it will never be the same again, but the Pakistani government has announced that everything will be the same from Monday, March 15. Shops and markets will not be bound. Attendance at schools will be completed.
On the first front, the doctors who stopped the epidemic are screaming. For God’s sake. Take care of human health. Don’t prioritize business over public health. If you are healthy, you will have business. They are rightly saying that until 70% of the population is vaccinated, everything will not be open. How many people have been vaccinated so far? Certified statistics are not currently available.
It is even being said that many of the hospital staff have not been vaccinated. The Pakistan Medical Association also says that an average of more than 1,000 new patients are still emerging in the country every day. Not all Pakistanis have gone through the test stages. Vaccination among medical staff has also been found to be very slow.
In mosques, markets, weddings, everything is happening as before. The rate of wearing masks is very limited and masking is ridiculed. If a person falls prey to Corona his breath starts to suffocate, then the mockers do not even come near him. Everything is borne by the patient and his close family. Millions of hospital bills are in place, but the pain and suffering that a patient has to go through cannot be estimated by those who do not follow the rules and regulations.
“Ammi, will it never be the same as before?” Children ask when they see rulers and politicians in the same crowd in meetings. No Masks less and SOP’s. The question of physical distance does not arise. Corona is not mentioned anywhere. Opposition leaders in particular never talk about it. They have no worries that Corona has severely damaged Pakistan’s economy. Couldn’t handle it yet. Unemployment has risen sharply. Many factories and businesses have closed. We are suffering from this epidemic in the last part after seeing the springs of our age. Our young children are witnessing this onslaught at the beginning of their life and in their infancy. They will be surrounded by its effects for the rest of their lives. The opposition has no qualms about the overall implications and effects of this epidemic. Just eager to get into government.
The next four or five years will be very difficult. In terms of economy, Public health then there is the possibility of further tensions in the region. No political party cares about FATF. Pakistan is still on the gray list. We are indeed avoiding blacklisting. But our footsteps have not yet been declared clean. The country can only be pulled out of this crisis together. When the PML-N and PTI candidates, the arch-enemies of each other, can give up in Punjab through the efforts of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, why can’t it happen in Islamabad, Balochistan, and KPK? The real power struggle is being fought in Punjab.
The doctors insist that the government should reconsider its decision to open everything from March 15. The World Health Organization is also warning that another strain of the virus, which emerged from Britain, Brazil, and South Africa, has now spread to 92 countries, including Pakistan. The number of patients in Pakistan has been increasing since the last days of February. There have been about 13,000 deaths in Pakistan.
Although this number is lower than other countries. But how many families have been affected by these deaths? In a backward country like Pakistan, there is no job security. The state does not give any stipend to the unemployed. Thousands of employees have been fired from private companies under the pretext of Corona. What is going on in their homes? Neither the ruling party nor the opposition is aware of this.
Opening everything up will allow this epidemic to spread more. This is an open fact. How will the elders and children be saved from the third wave that will spread after that and who will be responsible? Who will answer this question? Imran Khan, Asad Umar, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maryam Nawaz, or Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Thanks for reading!