Virus: challenges ahead.

Byline: Abbas R. Siddiqi - Lahore

THIS is apropos the article 'Beyond the numbers' (May 2) and your editorial 'Weak virus strategy' (April 28). Our coronavirus figures are becoming more alarming.

The country director, Population Council, Islamabad, has observed that the rapid spread of coronavirus is concentrated in our largest and fast expanding urban centres like Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Multan, Hyderabad, and so on.

The regions of Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Balochistan put together have reported the least number (or a far lesser quantum) of Covid-19 cases. Obviously, the residents of these regions have displayed considerable maturity, responsibility in the daily conduct of their lives, which is indeed commendable.

Social distancing may perhaps be easier to achieve in these far-flung, mostly pristine regions.

It is imperative that we all realised that this brutal pandemic we are confronted with demands measures such as social distancing, wearing masks, avoiding crowded avenues and using hand sanitisers; these SOPs should be adopted by every urban citizen on a 'self-policing basis', be it at home or in the market/workplace.

We simply cannot deploy a policeman or a local community official in every locality, market, shop, factory, office or...