Working Together.

That 105 Pakistanis flown back to the country on a repatriation flight from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) tested positive for the coronavirus shows the lack of a comprehensive global strategy to curtail the spread of the virus. If things carry on like this, neither any state nor a so-called collective response will succeed in bringing down the number of infections anywhere.

Since the government has been running a repatriation operation to bring back its stranded citizens in other countries, the risk of positive cases was always there. However, allowing infected individuals to board increases the risk of infecting other passengers. Countries from where these passengers fly should have tested them before they leave. Those that test positive need to be taken to the nearest isolation centres, instead of allowing of further infections to continue unchecked.

It is understandable that countries all over are naturally up to their elbows in fighting infections within their own citizens, but it is our collective responsibility to ensure that the spread of the disease is stopped completely. Firefighting is not the answer...