1) The heart-wrenching tragedy of more than 20 citizens freezing to death on the road to Murree is a direct result of criminal incompetence by federal, Punjab & KP govts. Shocking dereliction of duty & coordination. These deaths were avoidable #Murree (1/5)
2) The tweet by PM Imran Khan has added insult to injury. By blaming people and saying govt was caught "unawares" boggles the mind with its sheer insensitivity & callousness. What the govt has done is unpardonable & how it's reacting is equally worse #Murree (2/5)
3) Children, women & men froze to death less than an hour from the federal capital. Visualize the absolute horror of what they went through. Imagine the unbearable agony they suffered. An hour from the seat of govt. Unforgivable #Murree (3/5)
4) Rottenness of the system is on full display. Govt has failed. Ministers have failed. Officials have failed. Governance is collapsing under the weight of its own incompetence even as pitiful & pitiless minions retch out justifications for the avoidable tragedy #Murree (4/5)
5) When will enough be enough? How many more citizens have to freeze to death cradling their children in their cars and agonizing over their last breaths before their callous leaders step out of their ivory towers and do their job? When will enough be enough? #Murree( 5/5)
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The #COVIDー19 situation has reached a dangerous level. It could easily spiral out of control. Time to stop treating it as political football & start tackling it for what it really is: a public health emergency. But how? Here are specific suggestions for our leadership...(1/20)
'Lockdown vs No Lockdown' debate has needlessly become a partisan hot potato. It should not be. PTI govt pursued a policy it thought best. No one in the world knew what the right policy was. What PTI govt did was its right. That's done. Let us move on. How? #COVIDー19 (2/20)
It is clear #COVIDー19 is not a partisan issue. It requires collective ownership so decisions are taken not for political one-upmanship but for safety of citizens. For this to happen, all political parties need to take a deep breath, calm down and take one step back. (3/20)
WHO letter to all Pakistani govts provides a good opportunity for us to review our strategy on #COVIDー19. As situation worsens, it is imp for us to change course if needed for public health reasons, not political ones. Here's what WHO letter says (from @dawn_com report): (1/7)
WHO has said Pakistan has been ranked among the top 10 countries in the world reporting highest number of new cases of Covid-19 & advised the government to enhance daily testing capacity to 50,000 to assess the actual prevalence of coronavirus across the country #COVIDー19 (2/7)
While expressing concern over the hasty lifting of restrictions, the WHO in a letter to the four provinces stated Pakistan did not meet any of the prerequisites for opening of the lockdown #COVIDー19 (3/7)
Key point in comparing Covid-19 polices from states & countries: what works & what doesn't. S.Korea, Vietnam, New Zealand etc did something right; USA, Brazil, India, Italy, UK did something wrong. S.Korea did lockdown right, India did lockdown wrong...#COVIDー19 (1/13)
Key factor also how soon lockdown was done and how effectively it was managed. Some like NZ did so efficiently while others like India blundered by rushing into it w/out preparation leading to horrendous impact on vulnerable population. #COVIDー19 (2/13)
Key question for Pakistan: how do we keep mortality rate low 100 days into the pandemic while waiting with the world for Covid-19 vaccine? It is a moving target but some options present themselves based on lessons learnt from experiences of other countries #COVIDー19 (4/13)
Dear Pakistanis let us say a big thank you to the following & salute their bravery, courage and patriotism at a time of this gravest of all crises. They are our heroes and deserve the utmost respect of a grateful nation. Read on & feel free to add... #CoronaVirusPakistan
1/6. Our doctors, nurses, paramedics & all health workers who are frontline warriors in this battle against #CoronaVirusPakistan
They are putting their lives on the line so we do not have to. #respect
2/6. Our civil & military law enforcement personnel who are out on the streets to maintain order and safety and enforce #CoronavirusLockdown so we can all be safe. They are out there working at personal risk so we don't have to risk our safety #respect#Salute
We need to take some really big and really difficult decisions about #CoronavirusOutbreak. The pandemic is now a national emergency for us. Time to be complacent is over. National leadership must meet without delay and draw up plans to address the following: (1/8)
A) take stock of health facilities across the country. How many patients can we handle? What happens if infected numbers exceed the capacity of our health facilities? Doctors/nurses etc can also handle only so many patients (2/8)
B) should Pakistan shut down international travel? What are the consequences of doing so and how can this be implemented? This huge decision needs to be discussed threadbare by the national leadership and all options debated for a final decision (3/8)