Tough time ahead with continuing Covid surge
As has been predicted by health experts, the number of Covid-19 cases in the country has been rising at an alarming rate. The DGHS reported 3,359 new cases and 12 deaths in 24 hours till 8am Thursday, while the positivity rate jumped from 2.43 percent on January 1 to 12.03 percent on January 13. According to a DGHS spokesperson, if all the people with symptoms get tested, the real number of infections would be much higher. That being the case, we must do everything to prevent the impending crisis before it further cripples the economy and overwhelms our hospitals.
While we appreciate the health minister's concerns regarding the issue, as he warned of a massive spike in cases in the coming days, what we expect from his ministry is that they would give the necessary guidelines to all our public hospitals and prepare them with the equipment and medicines needed. According to DGHS data, around 1,300 Covid patients were admitted to hospitals as of January 12. Since more patients may need hospitalisations and oxygen support, the ministry must ensure that no hospital suffers from lack of resources. Increasing hospital beds for Covid patients must also be considered since the existing 20,000 beds may not be sufficient in case of a massive surge. In addition, the government's vaccination drives must also be expedited.
About the imposition of new Covid curbs—which took effect on January 13—we would like to point out that some of the curbs were not well-thought-out or practical: the directive given to the transport sector is one of them. Reportedly, the government ordered all public transports to run at half capacity in a bid to maintain social distancing. However, it does not seem like an enforceable idea given that all the offices, factories and shopping malls will remain open and people will have to go to their workplaces regularly. From our previous experiences, we know how difficult it would be for people to commute to their workplaces and that only the transport owners will be benefited from an increase in fares in the end. Thus, we think, the government should reconsider the decision.
Moreover, considering the effects of the pandemic on our education sector in the past two years, we think the government should not take the decision of closing down educational institutions, particularly schools, right away. The education ministry must come up with a proper plan, taking suggestions from the experts.
Since the government has already developed a zoning system to curb infections across the country, decisions about imposing restrictions should also be taken zone-wise, considering the infection rates in particular zones. Last but not the least, people should be encouraged to regularly maintain health safety guidelines including wearing masks, maintaining social distancing as well as getting vaccinated as soon as possible.
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