Pakistan is on an explosive coronavirus trajectory and needs to take immediate, bold and clear-headed steps to protect its people and the economy.
What needs to be done?
What needs to be done?
(1) National lock down. Shut down all non-essential activities, and gatherings of all sorts (social or otherwise) to minimize contagion. This is an emergency.
This act will buy you essential time to build critical capacities and plan ahead.
This act will buy you essential time to build critical capacities and plan ahead.
(2) Build testing and relevant health care capacity on war footing - train health workers for contact-tracing, re-purpose buildings for recovery wards etc. Bring all resources to bear on this.
It is testing and certainty of safety that will allow country to return to normalcy.
It is testing and certainty of safety that will allow country to return to normalcy.
(3) Essential supply chains must keep flowing - food, medicine, logistics etc. Use military to help out.
(4) Massively expand social protection programs (like BISP), get private sector and NGOs involved in protecting the most vulnerable - this should be a national call.
(4) Massively expand social protection programs (like BISP), get private sector and NGOs involved in protecting the most vulnerable - this should be a national call.
(5) Now you have breathing space of a few weeks. The continuous testing and contact-tracing will tell you when and where you can start easing up to bring the economy towards normalcy.
This will be a test of will and competence. Thousands, perhaps millions, of lives depend on it
This will be a test of will and competence. Thousands, perhaps millions, of lives depend on it
