Lockdown 2021 Diaries: 9th (Last) Day – Ineffective follow up of SOPs

Today was the last day of the COVID-19 lockdown in Sindh province and Sunday was a closed day in Karachi.

If we review this span of lockdown, it remained ineffective as the number of positive cases in Karachi could not come down below 20 per cent. Similarly, there was a rise in cases in Hyderabad as well.

According to official statistics, 1,655 new coronavirus cases and 26 deaths were reported in Sindh during the last 24 hours on Sindh.

A chief minister’s office handout issued stated that during 24 hours, a total of 17,625 tests were conducted and the positivity rate remained at 20 per cent.

Despite the closure of markets and big departmental stores in major cities, especially in Karachi, people continued to avoid following SOPs including warning masks at public places and keeping social distancing.

As there was no ban on every type of inter and intra-city transport people could have been seen commuting by sitting closely in public transport vehicles. The biggest city of Pakistan does not have any public transport system leaves along with mass transit, so people are compelled to use Ching-chi rickshaws (which accommodate 8 persons – six on two seats at the back and two seats with the driver).

People continue to travel in these types of public transport vehicles and there was a blatant violation of SOPs in all vehicles.

This time the government kept closing down the big marts and departmental stores like Metro, Bin Hashim, Al-Jadeed etc. despite the fact in that last year’s lockdown they remained open with strict SOPs. But there was a rush at the department stores and vendors of fruits and vegetables. The medical stores, meat shops, bakeries and Tandoors remained open and people violated SOP thereby not keeping social distancing and avoiding wearing masks.

Meanwhile, the Sindh government announced on Sunday new COVID-19 standard operating procedures that will remain in effect from August 9 to Aug 31, relaxing some of the restrictions as its partial lockdown comes to an end. They include:

• Markets and businesses to function until 8pm, except essential services
• Indoor dining to remain banned. Outdoor dining (till 10pm), takeaway and delivery will be allowed
• Friday and Sunday are to be observed as closed days
• Indoor weddings will be banned; outdoor weddings will be allowed with a maximum of 300 guests until 10pm
• Shrines and cinemas to remain closed
• Indoor gyms to be allowed for vaccinated individuals only
• Offices and public transport to operate at 50 per cent capacity
• District administrations may impose broader lockdowns in specific areas based on the risk.

Lockdown 2021 Diaries: 8th Day – NCOC announces end of Sindh's lockdown from Monday

After a marathon session with the government, the National Command Operation Centre (NCOC) decided to end the 10-day partial “lockdown” in Sindh on Monday, August 9, 2021.

Certain restrictions and SOPs, however, will remain enacted after the culmination of the lockdown, which received severe criticism from federal government coalition partners PTI and MQM-P. Traders' bodies and industrialists also censured the provincial government on the lockdown issue.

Despite the fact there is no significant decline in COVID-19-positive cases in major cities like Karachi and Hyderabad, the provincial government was forced to take a decision in consultation with the NCOC.

At least 1,827 new coronavirus cases were reported in Sindh during the last 24 hours on Saturday with 21 deaths. A total of 15,405 tests were conducted in Sindh.

At a meeting in Karachi, the NCOC decided that the non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) issued by the NCOC for the top 13 cities with high disease prevalence, including Karachi and Hyderabad, will be enforced.

Then smart Lockdowns in high disease prevalence areas will also be enforced to curtail the disease spread of COVID-19, a statement issued by NCOC said.

Meanwhile, the newly appointed Administrator of KMC Barrister Murtaza Wahab inaugurated a COVID Vaccination Centre at Karachi Press Club on Saturday.

Lockdown 2021 Diaries: 7th Day - ADB support for vaccination

After news about the shortage of vaccines in Karachi and other parts of the country, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced the approval of a $500 million loan to help Pakistan procure coronavirus vaccines.

This amount is in addition to the funding provided by the World Bank, IMF and other donors previously.

According to Gulf News, the ADP project will support Pakistan’s national vaccination plan by helping to procure and deliver an estimated 39.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, safety boxes, and syringes.

Earlier, the World Bank said it would reallocate $150 million to Pakistan for the procurement of the vaccines.

Despite vaccine supply constraints globally, the Government of Pakistan has procured and administered more than 35 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. With a population of over r220 million, Pakistan has mainly relied on vaccines imported from China including Sinopharm, CanSino and Sinovac. Pakistan has also received around 8 million vaccine doses through the COVAX facility including AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna.

Nearly 7.2 million Pakistanis have been fully vaccinated and more than 28 million have received one dose as of August 6.

Meanwhile, it was the seventh day of lockdown in Sindh on Friday as the province reported 2,170 new cases of COVID-19. 42 more patients lost their lives due to the virus and 18,223 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, reporting a positivity rate of 11.9 per cent.

Meanwhile, the federal health ministry said there is no shortage of vaccines in the country.

Lockdown 2021 Diaries: 6th Day – Vaccine shortage in Karachi

For the second time, the city’s vaccination centres complained shortage of vaccines on Thursday. A few weeks earlier, the country had witnessed a shortage of vaccines and a sufficient supply of Sinovac and Moderna vaccines had fulfilled the demand. But since the announcement of the lockdown in Sindh a large number of people thronged to the vaccination centres in Karachi and long queues can be witnessed outside the major vaccination centres. To meet the demand the provincial government has increased the number of round-the-clock vaccination centres and deployed mobile vaccination vans.

According to Sindh Health Department, the main vaccine brands like Sinopharm, Sinovac, and AstraZeneca are short in the city, as thousands of people have thronged at vaccination centres i the city since morning.

The shortage is reported from the largest vaccination centre at Karachi Expo Centre as well as other important centres like Dow Ojha Hospital, and Sindh Government Children’s Hospital. The supplies to vaccination centres at New Karachi, Liaquatabad, and Lyari have been suspended.

Most of the vaccination centres are not providing the first dose of Sinopharm, Sinovac, and AstraZeneca whereas only a second jab is provided whose dates are due.

Meanwhile, the provincial health department claimed that 12 mobile vaccination units have been deployed in six districts of Karachi to ensure maximum vaccination to the people. The officials believe that it may take a couple of days to receive a fresh supply of vaccines in the city.

The NCOC statistics indicated the death of 60 more people due to COVID-19 during the last 24 hours in Pakistan. In Sindh 2,315 new coronavirus cases and 28 more deaths were reported. A total of 16,9537 coronavirus tests were conducted in the province in the last 24 hours.

According to reports, the number of COVID-19 cases is on the rise in the second largest city of Sindh – Hyderabad.

Lockdown 2021 Diaries: 5th Day – Cases surge in Hyderabad

Business activities in Karachi remained suspended in Sindh except for essential items shops, like groceries and medical stores.

The war of words between Sindh’s ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and opposition political parties like PTI, Jamat Islami and MQM-P continued. Karachi Ameer of JI Hafiz Naimur Rahman criticised the provincial government’s decision to give powers to Police officers to impose lockdown SOPs. Earlier, those powers had vested to Assistant Commissioners or magistrates.

The federal education minister said in a press conference that federal government schools continue to run with 50 per cent attendance, whereas there will be no exams for compulsory subjects, while students would only take exams for elective subjects.  marks acquired by students in elective subjects would proportionately be given in compulsory subjects, along with an additional of 5 per cent.

Schools in Sindh will remain closed till August 8, the provincial education minister Saeed Ghani said in Karachi. The remaining intermediate exams in Sindh will take place after the coronavirus situation gets better, he stated.

According to the NCOC statistics, there is a letup in Coronavirus positive cases in two major cities – Karachi and Hyderabad. The positivity ratio in Hyderabad has touched 24 per cent, which is alarming, whereas this ratio in Karachi has hovered around 23 per cent for many days. Despite the lockdown, this positive ratio is not receding.

Rush is still being witnessed at the COVID-19 vaccination centres across the city. The provincial government has started operating mobile vaccination vans in different parts of the city.

The official figure indicated a total of 2,438 new cases emerged as 19,427 COVID-19 tests were conducted. Overall positivity of cases in the entire province remained at 12.5 per cent.

Lockdown 2021 Diaries: 3rd Day – No Respite to Public

It seems the provincial government has further tightened the lockdown restrictions as the main departmental stores in Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal Karachi remained shut down on 3rd day of the partial lockdown in Sindh.

Even one of the major cash-and-carry -cum- departmental store Metro remained closed down despite the fact it remained open during the first complete lockdown in 2020. The security guards posted outside Metro said it will remain closed till the end of the lockdown.

Only Street grocery stores, bakeries and medical stores are opened. Those medical stores, which are also selling grocery or general items have closed that section with curtains. For example, the famous Seven86 medicos at Jauhar Chowrangi is opened but it is selling only medicines. 

Due to the closure of the major stores, where a majority of people do shopping due to discounted rates, families feel frustrated in these localities.

Despite the announcement of 11 new round-the-clock vaccination centres in the metropolis, a large number of people were visiting the Expo Centre’s largest vaccination point in the city. Today the government has deployed Rangers and Army personnel to discipline the long queues at Expo Centre. According to reports, a similar rush is witnessed on other major vaccination centres including JPMC, Civil Hospital and Khalid Dina Hall in district South. Meanwhile, the traders’ bodies demanded the government to set up vaccination centres in major shopping points in the city.

The federal government-run National Command Operation Centre (NCOC) after a weekly meeting in Islamabad on Monday announced further restrictions for other cities of the country including, early closure of markets, resumption of 50 per cent work-from-home policy in government and private offices, operation of public transport with 50 per cent occupancy, two-day holidays in a week, restriction of indoor dining and marriage halls etc.

Sindh reported 1,847 new COVID-19 cases during the last 24 hours (down from 2,549 yesterday). Moreover, 36 deaths were reported by bringing the total deaths to 6,057. In Sindh, a total of 13,107 Covid-19 tests were conducted in the province.

Meanwhile, the district administration in Hyderabad has started a survey of vaccinated people in the district to ascertain the vaccination situation.

 

Lockdown 2021 Diaries: 2nd Day - Further Relaxation

Despite being a weekly holiday, Sunday remained quite calm as people remained at home on the second day of the 10-day COVID-19-related partial lockdown in Sindh. All markets remain closed on Sundays and only weekly make-shift bazaars are organized on weekends in different parts of the city. Those Bachat Bazaars were not organized this Sunday.

There were reports of heavy rush at the Karachi’s Expo Centre’s vaccination centre since morning, however, it remained operational throughout the day without any intervals. No untoward incident happened in this round-the-clock largest COVID-19 vaccination centre in Karachi.

The provincial government announced to open 11 more round-the-clock vaccination centres in the government hospitals in six districts of Karachi. These centres would be located at Dow Ojha Hospital in the East district; Khaliqdina Hall, JPMC and Lyari General Hospital in the South district; Children Hospital, SG Hospital New Karachi, SG Hospital Liaquatabad in the Central District; Sindh Government Qatar Hospital in the West district; SG Hospital Murad Memon Goth in Malir district; and SG Hospital Saudabad in Korangi district.

Keeping in view the traditional inefficiency of the provincial government’s machinery, it is really hard to believe that these new 24/7 centres would be functional from the first day for 24-hour service. Except for Expo Centre, the other government-run vaccination centres in the city often function between 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays. According to a report, the government is setting up new counters at NED University’s grounds. The mobile vaccination vans are also been sent to different localities in the city.

The poor performance of the health authorities in Sindh can be gauged from the fact that it has recently established a state-of-the-art new COVID-19 isolation/treatment centre at KMC’s Abbasi Shaheed Hospital in Nazimabad, but its healthcare staff including doctors held a protest demonstration against the non-availability of PPEs and other facilities to them. Karachi’s Administrator had recently inaugurated the intensive care centre.

Pl. click to watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2ocJRtY7_k

The federal government continued its criticism of the Sindh government’s decision of imposing partial lockdown on the entire province instead of clamping smart lockdowns in selected areas. The Prime Minister in his public address on phone also criticized the provincial government’s decision. “We had a small problem between the federal government and Sindh,” the PM admitted. “Sindh government wanted to impose a lockdown, which is the correct decision and will curb the spread of the virus. But on the other hand, the thing to see is that will we be able to save the economy from the lockdown? Then there is the issue of hunger … the daily wage earners and especially the poor section of our society … how will they make ends meet during the lockdown?”

A high-level meeting of NCOC would be held in Islamabad on Monday to further discuss the pandemic situation.

According to daily statistics of the National Command Operation Centre, 62 people lost their lives in Pakistan during 24 hours on Sunday with 5,026 new cases in the country. Sindh has reported 2,549 new coronavirus cases; 20 more people lost their lives, with the death toll rising to 6,021 in the province.

A total of 18,618 Covid-19 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, while 368 more patients recovered from the disease.

Feature photo: Courtesy dawn.com website (Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1638177/pakistan-reports-more-than-5000-daily-cases-for-first-time-since-april)

Lockdown 2021 Diaries: First Day of chaos

The first day of the “partial lockdown” in Sindh was a panic day at least in Karachi. There was a hue and cry of businessmen in the media on the closure of markets and non-export industries and those still un-vaccinated people had thronged to vaccination centres to get their jabs to avoid any harassment by police for not producing vaccination cards.

Incidentally, there was the 2nd jab date for my son so we have to go to the Arts Council vaccination centre for the vaccination. At Rashid Minhas Road and then Shara-e-Faisal, there was normal-day traffic and jams at one or two places as usual and we were asking each other where these people were going in cars and motorcycles as offices and markets are closed. At least at 2 places, the police had erected barricades, which caused jams and slowdown of the traffic at Shara-e-Faisal.  

Outside Arts Council, we realized that there would be a rush inside as a large number of cars were parked outside the building. And that was the fact. An unusual number of people were standing in queues at the registration desks on the terrace.

Thank God, due to a better arrangement by the management of the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi, we went through the entire process and came out within one and a half hours.

But the situation at the largest vaccination centre of the city, Expo Centre was even worse. The media reported a large number of people had gathered there to get themselves vaccinated since early in the morning and due to the rush some people had broken the entry glass door, therefore, the vaccination process was stopped for many hours. There was also a report of a strike by the staff as they were not paid salaries for many months. I received a live report from Expo Centre as a brother of mine also went to get his first job and was standing outside the main hall in s long queue.

There was a report in the media that the government’s computer system to record the vaccination has also crashed due to heavy rush.

Even though the government had allowed the opening of grocery shops, police forcibly closed down major departmental stores in my area (Gulistan-e-Jauhar). I was buying some groceries at Al-Jadeed departmental store at main University Road, and the management suddenly started making announcements to vacate the store as soon as possible. The entry and exit gate shutters were pulled down in a panic as a Police officer at a petrol van told me that there was a violation of SPOs in the store so the Assistant Commissioner ordered to close it down. Two other major stores in the area – Bin Hashim and Bin Safeer were also closed down in the afternoon (much before 6 pm).

Sindh government on Friday (July 30) announced a “partial lockdown” in the entire province effective from July 31 till August 9 as COVID-19 cases have shot up to around 30% in a single day in Karachi city alone. Export-related manufacturing industries, medical stores, bakeries and grocery shops were allowed to open in specified times. Later, the provincial government amended the notification twice and announced further relaxed conditions like it allowed inter-provincial transport movement and plying of rickshaws and other passenger transport within the city limits by following standard operating procedures (SOPs). It also lifted a ban on pillion riding on motorcycles. 

Local businessmen’s bodies, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Anjuman-e-Tajran rejected the closure of the business. Even the federal government and its ruling party Pakistan Tahrik-e-Insaf severely criticised the Sindh government for closing down the businesses to prevent the spread of the Delta variant of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Sindh, especially in Karachi.

Sindh government spokesman Murtaza Wahab and later PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari censured the federal government for its unrealistic criticism of the Sindh government on COVID-19 lockdown.

Federal government ministers Asad Umer, Fawad Chaudhry and Shaikh Rasheed opposed the lockdown and Asad Umer said the lockdown in India has pushed the economy of India on a backtrack and even it went down by 7% and still has not recovered. So the only solution is a smart lockdown. They said instead the provincial government had to focus on the implementation of SOPs. On the other hand, the Sindh government said it had no option but to impose restrictions to control the spread of the pandemic variant Delta. Murtaza Wahab emphasized the need for continuous engagement in dialogue with the federal government

Year 2020: A topsy-turvy year

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For many, the year 2020 was not good as the entire year was mainly affected by the pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19), which started in Wuhan city of China at the end of 2019 but spread over the entire world at the start of the New Year. In the initial months, Iran and Italy were the two major countries, which were worst hit by the pandemic COVID-19 after China. These affected countries, however, were controlled soon with the imposition of strict lockdowns.  

Soon, the virus spread over to the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Africa as a forest fire. Pakistan received the virus through Pakistani pilgrims who returned from Iran and Saudi Arabia. The first patient who tested COVID-19 positive had come from Iran.

Pakistan has to impose a lockdown in March, which continued till August, but it was not so strict as people did not completely observe the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The working class especially daily wage earners were the worst-hit section. Although the federal government had announced a one-time cash grant of PKR 12,000 to support the poor from the economic shocks of lockdown, this support could not reach to the majority of the population as the Prime Minister himself admitted that the government did not have data of 80 per cent workers.

The government also failed to impose SOPs due to a lack of cooperation from the masses. Media reported skirmishes between people and police, especially when police restricted people from going to mosques to offer Friday prayers.  

The virus’ intensity declined in July, but it suddenly increased again by the end of October and more people tested positive and the average number of deaths due to the virus increased manifold. This intensity of the disease still prevails on the last day of the year 2020. New norms of working from home, wearing masks most of the time and social distancing have now become part of our daily lives. We also worked from home till August when the government lifted the lockdown.

The year made a big impact on my personal life as I lost my mother on June 26. She suffered a stroke attack on 24^th June but could not survive and breathed her last within two days in the hospital. It was a big setback for my entire family. My father had already left the world in 2006.

Our family also witnessed some happy moments as well on the occasion of the wedding ceremony of my nephew Mairajuddin who got married on 12^th December.

The year 2020 would always remain in our memory with a lot of changes in the world’s politics. It was also the US elections year, in which Joe Biden won the election and in February he would become President of the world’s only superpower.

Politically, in Pakistan the opposition parties formed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a grand alliance to topple PM Imran Khan’s government, which according to them has failed to deliver as the economy is in shambles and prices of essential items have skyrocketed. A series of public rallies were held across the country despite strict COVID warnings by the government.

The government stuck to its anti-opposition stance and many politicians were put behind the bars by National Accountability Bureau, which it has never proven. Nawaz Sharif had to leave the country to get his medical treatment in the UK, but he refused to return due to the government’s policies. He was already convicted of his corruption and was behind the bars.

Pakistani economy continued to suffer amid COVID-19-related lockdowns when common people suffered a lot. People witnessed a steep rise in prices of all essential goods when sugar and wheat prices went higher due to scandals in these two commodities, involving powerful personalities of the ruling political party. The government failed to provide any relief to the people and it continued its anti-public decisions like increases in petroleum, gas and electricity prices. It seemed the government machinery was not concerned with the common people’s problems.

With the dawn of the sun of the New Year 2021, it is hoped that situation would be improved in Pakistan and in the entire world.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Lockdown Dairy: Is it really extended till 30th April?

Lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the entire country has been extended till April 30 and the federal cabinet approved this decision on 14^th April followed by a formal nod by the National Coordination Committee, which is a reprehensive body consisting of the federal government, all provinces and armed forces.

The current period of nationwide lockdown has expired on the 14^th.  Prime Minister Imran Khan along with his cabinet members addressed a press conference in the evening in which he said certain sectors are being opened, however, the lockdown is to continue till 30^th, especially where there are chances of gatherings.

India has also hinted at the extent of its 21-day lockdown till May 3 as the case of cornavirushttps://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52277096 has increased there.

Although this was a demand from the Sindh provincial government to extend the ongoing lockdown due to an increase in the cases of coronavirus in the province, the provincial government was being severely criticized by the ruling PIT and other coalition partners due to economic losses to the businessmen. Two federal ministers from PTI Ali Zaidi and Faisal Vawda spoke bluntly in the media previous days against the Sindh government.

Today two major press conferences were held in Karachi. The traders’ representatives held a press conference early this morning announcing to open up their businesses by tomorrow at all costs (by violating the government orders). However, they put off their decision for two days after the federal government’s announcement in the evening.

Another important press conference was also held at Karachi Press Club in which the so-called Ulema of all sects including Mufti Taqi Usmani, Mufti Muneebur Rehman, Shah Owais Noorani (JUP), Mohammad Hussain Mehnati (JI) and others in which they announced to end lockdowns in the mosques and start 5-time prayers from 15^th April.

Moreover, they also announced that Tarawih prayers and Itikaf will continue as per schedule during the forthcoming Holy month of Ramzan. They called on people coming to mosques to practice social distancing, come with Wuzu from homes and wear masks. Mufti Munib urged the government to not arrest people from within mosques. All those who have been arrested should be released, he said.

President Dr Arif Alvi has convened a high-level meeting of religious leaders of all sects on April 18 to discuss restrictions on religious gatherings during the lockdown. It is a matter of fact that Saudi Arabia has announced to suspension of Taraweeh during Ramzan because of the coronavirus.

The Pakistani religious leaders have been violating the government’s lockdown orders and many cases of violence and attack on police have been reported during the last two Fridays in which not only Juma congregations were held in Karachi in many parts but people resorted to violence against the law enforcement agencies in some areas. The government seems to be helpless against the religious zealots who are bent to violate the lockdown orders and instigate the general public to take laws into their hands.

Despite the persistent pressure from traders and the federal government of PTI, the Sindh government has still sustained all types of pressures and remained steadfast in its decisions to implement the lockdown. Last week, the provincial government announced to seal of 11 union councils in District East of Karachi due to more reported cases of coronavirus in those areas. This decision was not only criticised by residents of those areas, but the Supreme Court of Pakistan during its hearing of the suo moto case on the government’s measures to control coronavirus also questioned the purpose of such sealing of the residential areas.

The provincial government seems to be reluctant to succumb to any pressure from anywhere, but there is apparent ineffectiveness of the lockdown in many parts of Sindh as reports of people roaming around are coming from everywhere, especially in rural areas. A huge rush at the centres to receive Prime Minister’s coronavirus support fund is reported from many areas of interior Sindh.

In Karachi also the situation in congested areas, Katchi Abadis and Lyari is not satisfactory as people are not observing the lockdown orders and roaming around. Many people have been arrested in violation of orders and violence of police on citizens is reported on social media.

Currently all public transport is closed down, but the private cars, rickshaws and Chingchis (rickshaws carrying 8 passengers) are plying on the city’s many arrears.

Ration distribution and payment of Rs 12,000 under the PM programme have not reached all people as still a large number of people can be seen sitting at the roadsides in many areas or begging near the fruit and grocery markets.

Inefficiency, corruption and lack of essential equipment are the main reasons of non-observance of the lockdown orders in Sindh.