Daily Times

The decision to deploy the army in provinces means that the hope that people would practice self-discipline and social distancing, so the country can keep working and daily-wagers are not compromised, was misplaced. It may prove very regrettable indeed that most people across the country simply did not heed all the warnings and kept up social gatherings as if the coronavirus did not present an unprecedented threat to not just our cities and country but the whole world. Now, that initial advantage that Pakistan had – with far fewer cases than even neighbouring countries – seems fizzling out fast. At the time of writing, Monday night, confirmed cases were hovering near the 900 hundred mark, with no telling how deeply the virus has already penetrated.

Now, even though military deployment still does not imply a curfew and limited movement will be allowed, no one can say for sure what will happen next. The government is trying to keep the economy afloat by preparing incentive and relief packages, but given its own financial limitations there’s only so long any meaningful stimulus can last. Unlike other countries, Pakistan just doesn’t have the option of throwing large sums at the market to maintain liquidity. The most that could be done was dilute the monetary policy somewhat by reducing the interest rate; but even in that department the state bank’s 75 basis point cut disappointed the market very badly.

Now that a limited lockdown is being imposed across much of the country, it is that much more important for people to comply with authorities and limit going out to an extreme minimum. Since this disease passes through touch, and there’s no way of knowing how many people already stand infected, there’s the potential of catching it every time one opens a door, or exchanges money, or comes into contact with just about anything. And the only real way known so far of limiting its spread, quite literally, is for everybody to simply stay indoors and hence uninfected. Unfortunately it has come down to the military to force people to protect their own interests; since most people have just acted very irresponsibly so far. And it would be a grave tragedy indeed if army personnel are compromised because everybody took their own safety so casually. Pakistan must overcome this problem very quickly; far quicker than others, in fact. That, primarily, is because we do not have the money to keep up the lockdown indefinitely. *