Allocating 5 Karachi graveyards for COVID-19 burials at 11th hr highlights Pak's unpreparedness

Pakistan is so unprepared for the fight against coronavirus that the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) at the 11th hour had to allocate five graveyards in the city for the burial of infection-related deaths.

KMC Graveyard Department Director Iqbal Pervez confirmed to SAMAA Digital that four coronavirus affected bodies have been buried in different graveyards so far.

He added that Mayor Wasim Akhtar, in a letter addressed to the Pakistan Disaster Management Authority in Islamabad, also urged for the adequate provision of burial kits at least to ensure proper cremation duties. Sources in the department said that it is already short on resources and this emergency situation was taking things from bad to worse.

"In case of coronavirus deaths, the grave is dug out deeper than usual as it should be six-feet in-depth, four-feet wide and eight-feet in length. The undertakers are not ready to perform their duties without precautionary measures," the source said, adding that they are not ready to do burials even against a hefty amount of money.

The country seems to have accepted defeat.

The China-originated lethal bug has been sweeping across continents, perishing millions and crippling economies worldwide.

The tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 2,835, with 42 deaths on Sunday after new infections were confirmed in the country. The country is already facing a crisis of protective gear, including gloves, masks, testing kits and necessary arrangements to tackle the outbreak. In addition to this, Prime Minister Imran Khan's improper management of the disease has further lowered the morale of people in the country.

Irrespective of surging cases for whom Khan tries to portray a bleeding heart, the establishment has also refused to impose a lockdown in the country order "save" its plunging economy. In order to silence the people from further questioning the government, the premier states that they will focus on other sectors to gauge whether they can be provided relief so that a balance could be struck between the lockdown and regulation of economic activities.

"In Pakistan, on the one hand, you have the coronavirus and on the other hand, you have to deal with hunger. A lockdown imposed only in Defence or Gulberg will not be successful," he said.

Moreover, it is the duty of every respective government to assure that any crisis in the country will not have a devastating effect on the people. But Imran, as usual, stands alone in the crowd, saying, "We, as a nation, will fight [this disease] but no one can say what will happen in the next two to three weeks."

The audacity of the premier's bragging was itself tested when the government did even think of evacuating its citizens from China's Wuhan - the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak when all other countries, including its neighbours, were rushing to secure their people ahead of the impending danger.

As of now, even if the Imran Khan-government attempts to take any necessary measure to ward of the COVID-19 scare, the actions will be delayed.

The lethal bug has so far infected around 12 lakh people globally while the tally of infection-related deaths has surpassed 65,000, according to the data compiled by US-based John Hopkins University. Is it to see how Pakistan, with least resources and Imran on the hot seat, deals with the worst health crisis in decades.