It’s true that the fear of the disease may be worse than the disease itself, watching or hearing someone nearby who is being infected causes you to be frightened too. The same situation prevails at the area of the Bharakhue after recent cases of coronavirus.
I write it from the place of deep anxiety and fear, at 12 o’clock on Monday, my maid, who came from the highly populated area of Kot Hathial told she has seen police officials in her area while coming here. Before that I decided to give her leave of 15 days and told her to go her home by walk and not from public transport.
Fears mount at the area as news of as many as 13 suspected coronavirus cases aired on the same day and further it was learnt that this group of 13 people, including six foreigners, were sitting in tableegh in Kot Hathial and five members of Jamaat have tested positive for coronavirus. It was also learnt that one of the foreigners had tested positive for the coronavirus earlier and the concerned officials tested five more people from the group and the results came back positive.
In Bharakhue there are many sub areas with their particular names. Majority of people from adjoining places including northern parts of Murree, Abbottabad, and Kashmir, and also from Punjab side are residing here because of affordable rents. There are mostly narrow streets with small houses and many members of families are residing in around two rooms single accommodation.
The adding misery is that the people of these highly populated areas are associated with some of posh locality of Bharakhue in one and another way. They are working as drivers, maids or gardeners. Majority of them are also doing their business in markets of the area. In fact the whole community is linked with each other.
The majority of inhabitants who are not taking this epidemic seriously and were busy in their routine activities become serious after hearing news of coronavirus case of their locality and they are trying to take all primitive measures but still they have excessive sense of anxiety.
People have left all their all activities and stuck to their homes. Individuals, who are associated with food business have closed their shops or hotels because people are not eating from outside. They are avoiding public transport, so there is hardly few vehicles seen on roods of the area. Residents are not buying open milk and its products from dairy shops so the virus also affected their business.
These primitive measures are good for health point of view but at the same time it is badly affected commercial activities. It is an area of average income families who are hardly managing their bread and butter. Collectively, we can take responsibility of just few people associated with us but hundreds of labors who wait for work at long lines at the main chock of Bharakhue every morning what they will do? Who will feed their children, can they give two time meal to their children for many days? The epidemic really, really hurt them and they are actually affected with disease.
The premier did not institute full lockdown keeping in view the poor people. But current circumstances badly affect them.