Will Easing Lockdown Do More Harm Than Good?

While the city is under lockdown, people are eager to leave their homes. Some want to enjoy their life to the fullest whilst it’s a matter of livelihood for others. The lockdown has affected people in a way that we had never even imagined. But will easing this lockdown do more harm than good or is it a good idea? PM Imran Khan has announced to ease lockdown given the economic situation.

We, as a nation, are suffering but is the economy more important than lives? The question to be asked is whether everyone will follow all the SOPs provided by their respective provinces? If I talk about the people, a huge portion of our population is illiterate. I get countless comments on our virus outbreak updates telling us this is all a hoax. So, how will you make such people follow these SOPs when they don’t even believe in the disease. Is it a lack of understanding and awareness?

The people in Pakistan believe what they see on the internet, not all but many do it. I’ve come across a few conspiracies myself which state that only non-believers suffer from coronavirus and many more. It’s actually foolish to think that our people, who do not have enough knowledge about coronavirus, will follow all the guidelines and SOPs.

There should have been a better strategy for tackling this virus as this lockdown was the only thing keeping people apart from each other. However, this lockdown wasn’t being observed in many parts of the city anyway. People were seen roaming in congested streets amidst a hundred others, exposing themselves to the virus without care. Then there are those who believe that these disinfectant gates are their saviour and will protect them.

Easing lockdown, even in phases, could just become a disaster. Our whole medical system is on the verge of collapsing due to the overload as we lack the resources and also the finances to purchase those resources. We also lack experts in the medical field and that has already put a strain on many healthcare professionals as their work has doubled with an added layer of protection, quite literally.

PM Imran Khan said:

“It is now the responsibility of the masses to follow the rules; otherwise, we would be forced to reverse the decision. I was in favour of allowing public transport but the provinces did not agree to it.”

The step of not allowing public transport is a wise decision. However, if you’re claiming to ease lockdown for those daily wage workers whose livelihoods are being affected then it should also be noted that those workers rely on public transport for their daily commute. It’s like they’re allowed to go out and earn but they don’t have the means to do so, again. But if we look on the other hand, allowing public transport to function would have been even more disastrous. Local buses carry more passengers than its capacity. Hence, it could have easily become a virus hub infected not one or two but many at the same time.

It should also be noted that the highest number of reported cases in Pakistan within a span of 24 hours occurred on 8th May. The number of cases reported were 1,764. It shows that we’re nowhere near flatten the curve and should be prepared for the worst. When will Pakistan reach its peak? Well, it’s unclear but we hope that it never happens.

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