THE rate of coronavirus transmission and fatalities from it are on the rise and may assume an alarming proportion during the second wave, if people do not take seriously the mandatory SOPs like in the first wave. The number of daily reported infections has reached to 1500 hundred and death rate has reached to 30 across the country. The number of active cases has gone up to 16,000. There is a display of non-serious attitude towards wearing masks, social distancing and use of sanitizers by the people both in urban and rural areas.
The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) have asked the provinces to implement new guidelines under their own modus operandi. Under the new guidelines wearing of masks ‘work from home policy’ for 50 percent staff of public and private institutions has been made mandatory. Indoor marriage functions have been banned and maximum limit of 1000 guest has been fixed for holding such functions in open areas. It is worth appreciation that fine of Rs.100 has been suggested for not wearing masks; Sindh government has fixed this fine at Rs.1000 to ensure compliance by the people.
The ‘work from home policy’ for 50 percent staff can be easily implemented for public and private sector institutions. However, it will be very difficult to implement it in schools, colleges and universities due to dearth of academic staff. The closure of Quid-i-Azam University Islamabad last month and now a postgraduate college in Gujranwala points to this difficulty.
Again, the protection of frontline warriors of Covid-19 pandemic is being ignored. The deaths of doctors and paramedical staff in the first wave of pandemic should have served a lesson to provincial governments. The provision of personal protective equipment (PPEs) was not commensurate with actual requirement of the hospitals, catering for the indoor treatment of infected people. As per the standard health protocol, all doctors, nurses, paramedics and other staff are entitled for PPEs, while on duty.
