That the Delta variant of the coronavirus has ravaged Sindh, especially Karachi, more than the rest of the country, and that something extraordinary needs to be done about it, is not in dispute. But perhaps, just shutting everything down as a reflex action might not be the best way. It could, in fact, even be said that such steps signify a failure of sorts on part of authorities to successfully implement more subtle yet effective tactics like strictly enforcing Special Operating Procedures (SOPs) and social distancing protocols in all public spaces. Those, along with speeding up and expanding the vaccination drive would and should have been preferred. That a leading doctor in Karachi’s leading hospital complained just the other day that literally none of his many patients with the Delta virus had received even one shot of their vaccinations only goes to prove this point. Yet the Sindh government still opted for a nine-day lockdown, which could, and most likely would, drive a knife through the heart of the province’s and the country’s fragile economy. That explains why businesses are up in arms about the shutdown even though Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, for some reason, said that everybody understood and promised to stand by his decision. There’s no denying of the close link between “irresponsible handling of #ModiJanta” (as tweeted by Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry) and our growing troubles. But that the Delta variant was the most deadly of the lot had been known from the beginning. Thus, the Sindh government should have paid closer attention to why Pakistan has done so much better than almost all other countries so far in dealing with the pandemic. Our hospitals came under severe pressure with the first and third waves as well, but the federal government’s policy of smart lockdowns, which was also adopted by the provinces, proved to be the best approach. For even as countries in the immediate neighbourhood as well as those hundreds and thousands of miles away capitulated under pressure and tried all sorts of different approaches, we were able to recover and march our economy forward. Hopefully, the PPP government will once again weigh the pros and cons of its decision to put the lock on the entire province before it begins to pinch the economy a little too much. As chief executive of Sindh, CM Shah is right to be on his toes. But he should be careful how he approaches problems as complicated as this lest he goes about doing the right thing in the wrong way. *