The second wave of the coronavirus is getting out of control very fast. It seems the smart idea of the smart lockdown that got us out of the first wave so nicely is just not working this time. Experts believe the virus has mutated and now not just spreads much faster but also tends to finish off infected patients a lot quicker than before. That explains the sudden surge that both the number of infected and the number of dead have registered recently. Indeed, the situation is so grim that the head of the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) Federal Minister Asad Umar, who you’d expect to take the greatest care since he’s been shouting out aloud all along about practicing the strictest social safety measures, has also tested positive. Clearly those people that have to leave their homes to do their daily work, as opposed to those who can still manage from home, are at a much greater risk than before. That is why the importance of following all relevant Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) cannot possibly be stressed enough. The government is now running from pillar to post to find a way of slowing down the spread. Anything more than partial lockdowns can only be considered as a last resort since the economy would surely collapse. Yet there is an inherent risk in waiting to see how things turn out as well because it might well be too late by the time the government ralises the inevitability of shutting everything down, should it get to that. Pakistan must come up with a strategy that enables it to dig in for the long haul. The way things are going there’s no telling how much more damage the virus is going to cause before it begins to lose momentum. And we already know from experience of the previous wave that hospitals can reach critical capacity very quickly. Banking on the prospect of a vaccine reaching our country anytime soon is of no use either, since institutions like the World Bank disagree with governments like Pakistan’s about when the cure will become affordable for the third world. Therefore we must concentrate on riding out the storm till things can get better. And for that now as before the attitude and collective behaviour of the people of the country will make all the difference. *