Survey Finds Overwhelming Majority in Pakistan Satisfied With Imran Khan's Handling of Coronavirus Crisis

[Riaz Haq]

An overwhelming 81% majority of Pakistanis are satisfied with Federal Government performance in responding to coronavirus pandemic, way up from 61% who expressed satisfaction in March, according to a recent Gallup Pakistan survey. These numbers reflect Pakistan's much flatter disease curve compared with most other nations, including highly developed ones, that have seen a rapid rise in Covid-19 cases and deaths. The federal government has also launched an $8 billion stimulus program to deal with the economic impact of COVID19 on small businesses and the poor daily wage earners. Meanwhile,  the nation's central bank has significantly cut interest rates from double digits down to single digit.

Bilal Gilani of Gallup Pakistan tweeted his reaction to the poll result in the following words: "These are very unusual numbers ! But not without parallels from around the world. Crisis brings good in govt and ppls expectations set changes!"

The unprecedented crisis has indeed brought out the best in Prime Minister Imran Khan's government. After some initial criticism about the slow response to the pandemic back in March, the government in Islamabad has acted quickly to deal with it. Here are some of the key actions by Prime Minister Imran Khan in March and April:

1. Nation-wide lockdown ordered to slow the spread of the disease in Pakistan. The lockdown was started by the Sindh government where the cases began to spike after the return of hundreds of Pakistani Shia pilgrims from Iran, a known COVID hotspot.  The lockdown has resulted in flattening the curve of the disease and reduced load on the developing nation's weak healthcare system.

Gallup Pakistan Coronavirus Survey

2. Prime Minister Imran Khan launched an $8 billion economic stimulus package, including funds for low-income families to be disbursed through $75 grants.

Comparison of COVID19 Cases in Select Countries. Source: Our World ...

3. All international flights into and out of the country were stopped and all passengers  who arrived before the ban went into effect were checked and those with symptoms quarantined.  This action stranded thousands of foreigners in Pakistan and several thousand Pakistanis overseas. Some flights have since been allowed to help those stranded.

4. All passenger train service was halted in Pakistan. Pakistan Railways operates 142 trains daily on its 1,885-km-long tracks to ferry some 700 million passengers every year. Coronavirus fears had already reduced ridership.

COVID19 Deaths in Select Countries. Source: Our World in Data

5. The launch of Ehsaas Emergency Cash program at the end of March to hand out Rs. 12,000 each to 12 million families (an estimated 67 million people) whose livelihood has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic or its aftermath. This came after Prime Minister Imran Khan told reporters that  “we don’t want to try and save people from corona but they end up dying due to hunger and poverty".

6. Prime Minister Imran Khan granted exemption from lockdown to a few select activities, the area of forestry among them. These exemptions are subject to safe practices described in Stabdard Operating Procedures (SOPs) described by the government. Many workers idled by the coronavirus lockdown have been hired to plant millions trees as part of the Prime Minister's "10 Billion Tree Tsunami" program to deal with climate change. This is being described as "Green Stimulus".

7. Ramping up of tests and availability of  personal protection equipment (PPE), including masks and protective suits for the healthcare workers. Critics in Pakistan argue that more needs to be done to dramatically increase testing and reduce PPE shortages. This criticism is no different from that seen in other countries, including highly developed nations the United States and the United Kingdom.

Clearly, the results show that Pakistan's actions have slowed down the spread of disease caused by coronavirus in the country. The effect can be seen in Pakistan's much flatter curve compared with most other nations, including highly developed ones, that have seen a rapid rise in Covid-19 cases and deaths. The federal government has launched an $8 billion stimulus program to deal with the economic impact of COVID19 on small businesses and the poor daily wage earners.  Meanwhile,  the nation's central bank has significantly cut interest rates from double digits down to single digit.  It is these results that have produced overwhelming approval of Prime Minister Imran Khan's handling of the coronavirus crisis. Let's hope the government in Pakistan will handle the aftermath of the crisis even better.

Here's a World Economic Forum video of Pakistan's tree-planting campaign during the pandemic:

https://youtu.be/1iwT30Vd88E

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[Riaz Haq]

Safe reopening of #mosques: #Pakistan's success in controlling #COVIDー19 has been underreported. Pak initially restricted congregational prayers to 3 to 5 mosque employees, incl the imam, muezzin and maintenance staff, and closed it to general public. https://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/op-ed/safe-reopening-of-mosques-...

During the initial enforcement of these measures, the government consulted with these senior Islamic scholars regarding the closure of the mosques to ensure a successful implementation of social distancing during the lockdown.

They came to an agreement to restrict the congregational prayers to three to five mosque employees, including the imam, muezzin and maintenance staff, and thus agreed to close the mosques to the general public while keeping them internally functional.

This agreement was a remarkable display of flexibility and maturity on the part of these scholars, showing that they were cognizant of the gravity of the situation while at the same time ensuring that the functioning of this vital institution was not completely suspended.

Key to distancing
From a medical/epidemiological perspective, social distancing measures can only work when everyone observes them.

Therefore, the effectiveness of social distancing is not based on an incremental, graduated model but on an almost binary all-or-nothing model. If everyone observes the measures, only then are they effective; otherwise, it is as if no one is observing them. The drastic spikes in cases in certain Western countries bear testimony to this.

With the passage of time, two things became apparent: On the one hand, the incidence of new cases and the mortality rate in Pakistan were much lower than figures being reported in the rest of the world, especially those in neighboring India.

On the other hand, the cumulative economic burden of the lockdown on the country as a whole and more specifically on the poorest sections of society and daily wage workers seemed to be increasingly unsustainable.

As a result, the government announced new lockdown directives and regulations in April due to Pakistan's specific situation. Under these directives, large sectors of society, industry and services were reopened.

This was based on the rationale that Pakistan (with its widespread poverty and daily wage workers who cannot withstand a prolonged complete lockdown without starving) could not afford to lock down completely like for example a Western country with a solid welfare state, subsidies, grants and benefits could and that the number of deaths due to starvation and disease in such a lockdown would likely be as much or far more than the projected deaths due to COVID-19.

Coupled with the governments' gross inability to sufficiently provide for the immobilized and jobless poor workers in a lockdown and compensate them for what they would face or even feed them at the basic level during this time, the Pakistani government seemed to have been led to come to a conclusion: They relaxed the lockdown and opened up all of these sectors.

This would have been in addition to what they saw as the long-term collapse of the economy if a complete lockdown were to be prolonged, which, in a country like Pakistan, would likely cause hundreds of thousands of additional deaths in the medium term.

Now, one may debate the rationale behind these governmental directives and agree or disagree with them – as people indeed have – and with lengthy arguments on both sides, but it needs to be borne in mind that Pakistan is far from having the ideal state of affairs that wealthier nations find themselves in.

[Riaz Haq]

Abdul Alim of #Pakistan, a #COVID survivor and #vaccine advocate, dies of natural causes at age 104. He made headlines last year when he got vaccinated, encouraging others — especially those in his region of Upper Chitral — to do the same. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/02/01/1077055777/abd...

Abdul Alim, one of Pakistan's oldest COVID survivors, died of natural causes on Jan. 27 at age 104.

Alim made headlines last year when he got vaccinated, encouraging others — especially those in his region of Upper Chitral in northern Pakistan — to do the same. Although vaccine hesitancy is a major issue in his country, Alim was an outspoken proponent of the vaccine.

"If a 100-above-year-old man like me can feel perfectly fine, everyone should have the courage to take it," he told NPR in May 2021. "There is no reason one should not take the vaccine."

A survivor and an advocate
In July 2020, Alim became one of the oldest survivors of coronavirus in the world.

At the time, the news of a potential COVID vaccine filled him with hope. He was afraid of getting sick again, and he wanted to get back into the world. "I wanted to benefit from it as soon as possible," he said. "I was tired of living life in isolation. I wanted to meet people, talk to them."


Alim said he was inspired to get the Sinopharm vaccine in April 2021 after he heard about it from his religious leader. "I am not very educated, so I do not understand much about it, but he told us that he had been vaccinated against COVID-19 and recommended everyone to do the same as soon as the vaccines are offered."

It was a big deal at that time for him to get a COVID shot. A survey of 1,000 people in Pakistan in January 2021 found that 50% didn't want to get the COVID-19 vaccine, fearing potential side effects.

After he got vaccinated, Alim said he was excited to fill up his social calendar and celebrate the Muslim holiday Eid ul-Fitr with his community. "I feel I am unchained now," he said. "I encourage everyone to take the vaccine."

'Pray for his soul from afar'
Alim was due for his booster shot in January but had not been feeling well, says his son Sohail Ahmad. "We waited for him to feel better. We were not sure whether his body was strong enough to sustain even mild side effects."

Alim was sick for five or six days, then passed away. Ahmad says his father discouraged people – especially those from outside his village Booni in Chitral – from visiting. COVID cases in their area were again on the rise.

In most Muslim cultures, it's common practice for friends, family and neighbors to visit loved ones who are sick and dying. In a close-knit community like Chitral, people bring food to the person's house or help with house chores. After a death, visitors console the grieving family to offer their compassion and pray alongside them.

"Although my father did not like to be in isolation, he advised us to urge people not to come visit him," says Ahmad. "He even said that he will be happier if people can pray for his soul from afar instead of coming from faraway villages. My father was concerned for people's health and even in death he wanted to keep people and our family safe."

He 'enjoyed his life to the fullest'
To make sure that people abided by his father's last wishes, Ahmad wrote a message on his Facebook page, telling friends and family to express their sympathies via telephone or social media. "Calls are enough to express your condolences and it will make my father's soul happy, too," he says he told them.

Ahmad says he received more than 500 calls and messages on his phone and Facebook page.