Red zone files: Known unknowns.

Byline: Fahd Husain

The hunt for a sustainable strategy is on. Meanwhile there's always hope.

But former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is having none of it. He wants a plan. Not a plan to have a plan but to actually have a plan. So when Mr Abbasi stood on the floor of the National Assembly on Wednesday, he challenged the government to produce a one-page document for the parliament that spelt out the strategy for combating Covid-19. 'They don't have a strategy,' he stated again and again while tearing into the government's inept handling of the crisis.

He will say all this. But of course. The government will reply with the usual deluge of cliches. As it did. Politicking aside, the basic question does indeed waft in the air like a bad odour: what is the PTI government's strategy on Covid-19?

The problem is there is no short answer. There is however a long one. And if this were to become the one-page strategy document that Shahid Abbasi has asked for, it may look like this:

'Our policy is to defeat Covid-19. To do this, we do not think lockdown is a good strategy. It is only partially good. So we do not want a lockdown. Except when we need a lockdown. Not before that. Not after that. We are more afraid of people dying from hunger than lockdown. Therefore our strategy is to feed the poor so they do not die of hunger. But we are not rich like the USA. So we cannot feed the poor. So we will lift the lockdown so people themselves can decide if they want to suffer from Covid-19 or from hunger. Our policy is to trust our people's judgement. Our strategy is also our hope that there is something that is keeping our death rate low and therefore it makes it easier for us to base our strategy on hope. But we have also prepared our health facilities if hope runs out. But at some point facilities will also run out. Our hope is that point will not come. That is also our strategy.'

When you ask policymakers in the Red Zone what all this means in simple words, they put forward an interesting argument which goes something like this:

Our strategy is to see how the situation develops. Since it is an evolving situation and no one has answers, the best we can do is experiment with various strategies, change direction if they don't work, and then monitor the impact of our policies. It's a flowing process that requires us to make decisions day by day. We will lift lockdowns when we feel things are in control so people can generate economic activity, and we...