Karachi doctors demand strict lockdown to control COVID-19.

KARACHI: Senior doctors in Karachi warned authorities on Wednesday that introducing relaxations in the lockdown will cause a spike in COVID-19 cases that would in turn cripple the country's already fragile healthcare system.

Addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, Pakistan Medical Association Secretary General Dr Qaiser Sajjad regretted that the strict lockdown in Sindh, which was enforced by the provincial government effectively earlier, had "now become a joke just like in the rest of the country".

"I have to say, with all due respect, that our government has made a very wrong decision and our ulema have demonstrated extreme insensitivity [akin to] playing with human lives.

"This fight is between the coronavirus and doctors, so please listen to us [...] You (government and scholars) have held a meeting without including any technical person. You have drafted 20 SOPs (standard operating procedures). Please tell me, will these SOPs be followed in Pakistan's mosques? The prime minister has said that the mosques where SOPs are not followed will be closed. Mr prime minister, by then, it will be too late."

Dr Atif Hafeez Siddiqui also urged religious scholars to "review their decision" to keep mosques open.

"We want to say that congregations like these would lead to exponential growth [...] and if we don't stop that and this [virus] spreads, then everyone will forget markets and supermarkets. Fingers will only be pointed at mosques."

"Religious scholars from all sectors should please understand that saving lives is of foremost importance in the epidemic. They should endorse the need to keep common people away from congregations in mosques. The different innovations suggested are unlikely to be followed.

Dr Siddiqui insisted that a strict lockdown needed to be imposed in order to curb the spread of the virus. He acknowledged that a lockdown "will hurt", but added that Pakistan was "declared the fourth most philanthropic nation" and with the help of charitable individuals and organisations, the vulnerable people could be taken care of.

"We doctors are also bearing the economic impact, we earn through clinics but we have closed them. No one is spared from the economic brunt, the entire world is affected," Dr Siddiqui said. He pointed out that it took a month for Pakistan to reach 1,000 cases but after relaxations in the lockdown, the number had spiked.

Dr Siddiqui cautioned that if proper measures were not taken, a time may come...