China is now doubt our tested, all-weather friend. Just as Islamabad stood by Beijing throughout its hours of crisis, especially the recent bout with the coronavirus, the Middle Kingdom too is now the first to step up and help us. No doubt we do not have the kind of medical infrastructure to handle with the worst of the coronavirus outcomes, and we will need all the help we can get. That is why it is so reassuring that China has sent its doctors and medical supplies to help Pakistan. So far, the number of cases as well as deaths here has not been as large as in other countries. So it is essential to get control of the situation right now, before it can do more harm than we are capable of handling. Just as important as the medical supplies and all the work the doctors are going to do will be sharing of experience and knowledge. Everybody knows, especially in light of the havoc the virus is wreaking across the world, just how spot on the Chinese response has been. The way authorities there were able to enforce a water tight isolation regime ought to be a lesson for the whole world. That is primarily why the tide has been so successfully turned in the Wuhan area, so far considered the place where it all began. Perhaps the only thing lacking over here in Pakistan is the way some segments of society have behaved and the difficulties they have caused the government in terms of enforcing the lockdown. It must be understood that all medical efforts will go waste if the virus is not contained. And it will simply not be contained until everybody just shuts themselves inside their homes for a few more weeks. Far better medical and governance systems than ours, likes the ones across Europe that also command so much more financial firepower, simply collapsed as the coronavirus spread out of control. There, too, the principal problem was people initially not taking official warnings against coming out seriously enough. Pakistan can win this fight early provided we do the most basic things right. And nobody better than the Chinese to tell us that everything begins with and hinges on the degree of isolation we can enforce on the masses. Next, of course, comes the medical handling of the problem. And lastly there has to be enough in the reserves to see the lockdown through. Even with the best efforts, things will unravel if this period of isolation, which will be a considerable drag on the economy, is not financed properly. *