The second wave of coronavirus is taking its toll on Pakistan with reports of more than 2,000 cases for the fourth consecutive day on Monday.
Pakistan recorded 2,128 new infections and 19 fatalities in the past 24 hours, pushing the national caseload to 359,032. Meanwhile, the virus-related death toll stands at 7,160.
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Until the last week of October, the pandemic situation had largely been under control. The positivity ratio had been well under 2 percent, with reports of 707 new cases and three deaths out of the 26,492 tests performed.
However, the pandemic accelerated in the past few weeks, taking the prevalence rate to 7.21 percent on 15 November.
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On one hand, despite the steep surge in positive cases, the government has refrained from taking decisive measures. On the other hand, the masses are also relatively complacent and continue to flout the government’s repeated calls for restrictive measures that include face masks and social distancing.
If the prescribed restrictive measures are not followed at the earliest, the pandemic is likely to get out of control. It is worth bearing in mind that such a situation will impact both the country’s health system and its economy.
