One of the biggest problems in facing an unprecedented pandemic like the coronavirus is that more and more doctors across the world are at the risk of contracting it just like everybody else. And doctors are naturally even more vulnerable because they spend all their time these days in dealing with coronavirus positive patients. Governments are, by compulsion, forced to factor in worst-case situations as part of mandatory risk assessment exercises, so they have no doubt considered what might happened if too many doctors end up catching the virus to keep hospitals functioning. Surely, then, these warriors on the front lines of this existential fight deserve more than just masks and robes.
And that is where normal, everyday people like most of us come in. There’s only so much governments can do to protect the many, many doctors risking their lives for others at this moment. The best they can do is utilise their limited resources optimally, make sure the best safety is provided to doctors, and then urge the people to limit their movements so the number of new cases is minimised and pressure mounting on doctors is controlled. That, in the given circumstances, is the most that can be done. That is why cities and indeed countries across the world have enforced curfews and lockdowns.
People flaunting rules and still roaming about in our part of the world do a great disservice not just to the country and their own families, but also the brave doctors who are continuously putting their lives on the line, and those of their families, not just because it’s their job but also out of a sense of greater duty to humanity. It would be a crying shame and a grave injustice if too many people exhibit too much ignorance and the medical community ends up paying for it; and that too with their lives. It is for a good reason that governments, militaries, police forces, and people across the world are appreciating and saluting all the doctors at the forefront of the fight on coronavirus. If it weren’t for their extraordinary efforts the global death toll would surely have been much worse. All eyes, therefore, are naturally on the doctors as this fight intensifies. In Pakistan, the numbers of infected and dying is increasing incrementally. That only means a tougher fight ahead for doctors. *