Coronavirus Trending in Pakistan: “We Had Three Months of Warning We Did Not Prepare”

The Umrah returnees (from Saudi Arabia) in March are a silent source of importing coronavirus to Pakistan

DESPARDES — Four (4) major coronavirus trends in Pakistan have been tracked so far as confirmed cases reach 1690 and 21 deaths.

These represent accurate account, says a senior member of Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) Think Tank.

According to him, lack of strategic vision, leadership and planning are to be blamed for the trending. “We had three months of warning (and) we did not prepare”, he says when asked to comment why it was trending.

  1. The Taftan trail:
    the Iran-returned zaireen who are vertically spread from North in Gilgit Baltistan (GB) to south in Karachi.. The long land route from Taftan is a blessing as multiple quarantine filters have intercepted them and better results observed. Those who bypassed the quarantine filters will mushroom in Shia dominated population specially Quetta, GB & Karachi. GB people will prove to be the worst sufferers in coming days.
  2. The GT road inferno:
    The expats pouring in from EU ( Italy, Spain etc) and UK. They are metastasizing in Jhelum, Gujrat, Gujranwala, etc. The main impact is on GT road. They will also spread in Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) because of UK connection.
  3. The Raiwind fission
    The tablighis diaspora who have spread from Raiwind and infecting diverse areas. Their main impact is initially in Potohar area: the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. It will further spread in Deobandi areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Karachi, Bannu, Swa and former FATA areas. A number of retired military officers involved in tabligh may succumb to corona. The Raiwind cohort is active in Lahore as their Headquarter is located there. The foreigners infected in Raiwind will spread corona in CARs and Africa if allowed to return to their parent countries.
  4. The Harmain-Sharifain cohort:
    The Umrah returnees (from Saudi Arabia) in March are a silent source of importing coronavirus to Pakistan as in Manga Mardan where more than 40 have been infected.

Worldwide, more than 755,000 confirmed cases of the virus have so far been reported, with over 36,000 deaths. In Iran, which has a common border with Pakistan on its east, more than 41,000 confirmed cases have been reported with reports of 2757 fatalities.

ALSO READ: Will Warm Temp in Mideast, Asia Eliminate Coronavirus?