ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday urged the nation to adhere to health guidelines to ward off the looming threat of the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus that has put Pakistan’s impressive pandemic response at risk.
While conversing with the nation in a live question-and-answer session, Aapkaa Wazir-i- Azam Aapkay Saath, via telephone, the prime minister said that after witnessing the trends across the globe, the Health Department observed the variant was twice as transmissible as the original strain of SARS-CoV-2.
“The Delta variant is more transmissible than the original strain of the virus and is more likely to cause severe illness,” he said.
“Allah has been kind to us in the past as we took the most difficult but timely decisions, which helped us to save lives and the economy from devastating impacts of the crisis.”
He recalled the World Economic Forum had ranked Pakistan as the third country in the world which had taken timely steps to save lives of its people and the economy.
Imran has since the outbreak of the disease in February last year been regularly interacting with the public through this initiative in which callers pose various queries regarding important domestic and global issues, raise their problems and give suggestions.
The prime minister underlined that vaccination was the only solution to cope with the emerging situation of the crisis.
In a report released earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States said the Delta variant spreads much faster, is more likely to infect the vaccinated, and could potentially trigger more severe illness in the unvaccinated compared with all other known variants.
The document, a slide presentation prepared by officials within the health protection agency first obtained by the Washington Post, warned the variant is as infectious as chickenpox, and argues that government officials must “acknowledge the war has changed” given how dangerous the variant is.
He said through prudent decisions, the government was able to save the 220 million-strong population from the negative impacts of the previous waves through scientific decisions and guidance and input offered by the National Command and Operation Centre.
The prime minister also thanked the nation for extending cooperation during the pandemic. Mosques in the country kept opened during Ramadan and the clerics cooperated in the implementation of guidelines.
He said wearing masks could reduce the spread of the coronavirus by 60 to 70 percent. “Where there is assembly of people, please do wear a mask,” he said.
When asked about the Sindh government’s decision to impose a blanket lockdown, the prime minister expressed hope the province will consider the implications of its decisions on the weaker segments of society especially the daily wagers.
He said enforcing quarantine was a wise decision as it would reduce its spread but another issue that should be considered is whether such a scenario would serve the country, its people and economy.
He observed that imposing blanket lockdowns will result in increased hunger. “Never go for lockdown unless you have answers for these issues,” he maintained.
For context, the prime minister referred to situation in India where an abrupt lockdown wreaked havoc on society. The government there only thought of the upper and elite classes, he said.
Imran suggested that smart lockdowns should be imposed in towns identified as hotspots. Schools should not be reopened and it was ensured that all the teachers were vaccinated.
He further recalled the authorities had so far vaccinated over 30 million people throughout the country.
