So Pakistan is now also in lockdown, after days and weeks of ostrichism and prevarication. I have one sister in Islamabad, by herself in a flat in the Diplomatic Enclave; another outside the enclave, a father mostly by himself (though, happily, his house help returned from vacation just in time, hopefully not bringing the pest with him) and a brother a couple of kilometres from him. Pakistan’s response has been a horrific thing to watch, full of denial and refusal to face up to what might and would happen. When the first cases erupted in China it was obvious to anyone that stringent mechanisms were required to test people at the border, to quarantine them and to monitor them, forcibly if needed. This was not done and instead Pakistan donated its entire stock (!) of PPE to Wuhan – this was a gesture, not a humanitarian act. Then cases emerged in Taftan amongst people returning from pilgrimage in Iran and it was clear that rigorous quarantine and testing was required. Neither was done – some people were put in a quarantine at what can only be called a sort of concentration camp, and many fled into the general public. Meanwhile the government insisted that transmission was only from outside, there was no need to worry about community transmission. Sindh took action, surprising everyone, as its government is notoriously inactive and corrupt. Karachi was shut down, a city of 15 million people. No one was allowed to enter the country without a COVID-19 test the day before flying, effectively restricting entrance. A flight ban came in. Still there was denial of the possibility of community transmission. The prime minister made address after address to the nation, arguing that a shutdown was not possible as it would impact on the poorest. This is true, but with many of the rich isolating themselves voluntarily, it also meant that the poor were those who will be infected. Not to worry, the prime minister said, ghabrana nahi. Cases swooped up, today at over 800 simply of those tested. And last night, one by one, the provinces announced their lockdowns and the army spokesman confirmed it. Clearly someone who mattered had had enough.
Now my family is in lockdown and if things get back I am unlikely to be able to return to them.
I think it is very likely that ten years from now we will look back and ask if, in the most brutal terms, we, the world, took the worst possible decisions at every stage and from a purely utilitarian perspective, killed far more people through dithering response than we would have either though prompt action or cold-hearted calculation.
But we are on this long road now, we must get through it, and see where we come out on the other side.