COVID-19 in Pakistan: Addressing the Third Wave

In Blog
March 29, 2021
Mahnoor Islam
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COVID-19 has taken the world by a storm. With the first case emerging on 26th February 2020, Pakistan has recorded more than 630,000 cases and 13,000 deaths. Pakistan was able to respond quickly due to the nationwide early lockdown, travel bans and the introduction of The National Action Plan for ‘The CoronaVirus Disease (COVID-19) Pakistan’,

COVID-19 has taken the world by a storm. With the first case emerging on 26th February 2020, Pakistan has recorded more than 630,000 cases and 13,000 deaths. Pakistan was able to respond quickly due to the nationwide early lockdown, travel bans and the introduction of The National Action Plan for ‘The CoronaVirus Disease (COVID-19) Pakistan’, whose purpose was to create policies and a mechanism to help provincial governments and states across Pakistan to best deal with the pandemic. Later on, the government also shifted to a ‘smart lockdown approach’ in order to restrict the spread of the virus in areas and hotspots where the number of cases were significantly higher.

Pakistan was also also praised by The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. So, what actually were the key features that enabled Pakistan to deal with the pandemic effectively and what can Pakistan do in the future in order to deal with future health crises? In the recent Islamabad Dialogue Conference, Dr. Sania Nishtar, current Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety said that due to the government’s investments in digital and institutional infrastructure, Pakistan was given a headstart and was able to respond to COVID-19 quickly.

Dr. Faisal Sultan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, while addressing the audience during the Islamabad Dialogue, mentioned two elements of Pakistan’s CoronaVirus strategy that made the response coherent. The first element was the fact that the Pakistani’s government chose to target and focus on the population that was at risk and those who needed protection such as frontline health workers and citizens who were 65 and older, both of the categories had a higher chance of getting the virus and facing major complications of it.

Secondly, narrower approaches regarding controlling the pandemic were disregarded and the tone was set by the Prime Minister Imran Khan to focus on an average Pakistani citizen. This can be seen through the implementation of the smart lockdown approach as mentioned earlier in order to balance an average Pakistani citizen’s needs in light of economic implications such as unemployment and pay cuts and controlling the spread of the virus. Pakistan’s response was smart and responsive because it was also data driven and was based on scientific facts and information.

Dr. Faisal also talked about the reforms that the Pakistani government is working on in order to ensure longevity and prepared responses for future pandemics. He discussed the healthcare reform agenda aswell as planned reforms for regulatory bodies such as the Pakistan Medical Commission, the Pakistan Nursing Council and other regulatory bodies. He also stated that the ability to generate, regulate and create medical devices and vaccines is crucial and therefore, reforms related to similar regulatory bodies are underway as well. The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister also commended the government on forming a vertical collaboration with provincial governments despite the 18th Amendment scenario.

As Pakistan deals with the third wave, which is said to spread faster than the first two, Pakistan needs to find a way to control the spreading of the disease. While a discussion of a full lockdown is ongoing, one questions whether Pakistan will be able to deal with its implications? Is Pakistan’s economy strong enough to deal with it? As businesses begin to close down and strict SOPs are implemented, a daily wager is likely to suffer an incredible loss. As already witnessed, Pakistan saw a rise in cases due to relaxing the already existing SOPs. Pakistan needs to find a way to effectively implement SOPs however also focus on the average citizen who may suffer due to a full lockdown. It is imperative now more than ever to find a balance between meeting the needs of an average Pakistani citizen and to control the spread of the virus through SOPs in order to flatten the curve.