The rising number of coronavirus cases is dampening social mood and depressing economic spirit. Anecdotal evidence suggests that mask-wearing is rather patchy or inconsistent in public spaces in major cities. If during this tough winter the collective response of the country - an aggregate of what individuals, businesses and federal and provincial governments do - won’t graduate from ‘casual’ to ‘cautious’ in the days ahead, it will become hard to avoid stricter restrictions on mobility, work and socialization.
Unfortunately, the onus of responsibility continues to be shifted by the government to the public at large. From the PM down to cabinet ministers, recent statements have been reflective of the government’s approach to associated rising cases with public indifference to the virus. Last week, the PM reportedly urged the public to “take precautions”. The Planning Minister, also the chair of the NCOC, also reportedly said last week that Covid-19 infections will get worsen “unless public attitude changes”.
There was also a gem in the Ministry of Finance’s latest Economic Update and Outlook for November: while it credits the economy’s “considerable recovery” in the Jul-Sep quarter to “timely measures” by the government, it goes on to blame “the ignorance of general public” for causing “resurgence of Covid-19 infections”. Such statements blaming the public alone sound elitist. The report goes on to claim that “if the SOPs are strictly followed by the general public, it is expected the negative impact can be dampened and economy will return to long-term sustainable growth path”.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with urging the public to show restraint. Only that such requests are not a substitute for a full-throttle crisis communication to sensitize the public. And no, crisis communication doesn’t entail simply running brief public service advertisements on TV, radio and cellphones that people may already have become immune to. Folks are indeed taking the second wave relatively casually, but this is apparently a lethal wave that needs effective communication to induce-risk aversion in the public.
Anyone who thinks they can convince the public to limit exposure simply through such exhortations from higher offices hasn’t been living in reality. Prior research during the pandemic has indicated that while people generally are able to follow SOPs such as social distancing and frequent hand washing, it is not possible for all the people to avoid public transport, because they need to get to work and may not have personal transport available. Besides, they may not be able to stockpile food items to avoid frequent visits to grocery stores because they are living on a salary/wage and have limited to no savings to buy in bulk.
That leaves the masks, perhaps the most potent SOP. Research has shown that wearing a mask in public is the single-most decisive factor in limiting the spread of the virus. As per a paper “Mask-Wearing During the Covid-19 Pandemic” released by scholars at University of California (Davis) in September, “widespread mask wearing… equates to an expected 88.5 percent drop in the growth of daily active cases over a 30-day period when compared to zero percent mask-wearing, all else held equal”.
In other words, pandemic spread can be brought under control in about a month’s time if a universal mask mandate is in full force. It was in late October that Pakistan government made it compulsory on every member of the public to wear a mask outside their homes. But research into several countries’ Covid trajectory during the crisis has also demonstrated that mask-wearing becomes a norm only when people are afraid of contracting Covid-19.
Question now becomes: why aren’t the Pakistani people sufficiently afraid? Whose job is it to make them frightened of the very real danger? Why are the public health officials not addressing the public via mass media (which is cable TV in Pakistan) every day to drive the point home? Why is the country still consumed in partisan politics at a moment of peril? What is the strategy to get to the other side of pandemic, for surely nobody wants to sacrifice valuable lives waiting for vaccines?
Unfortunately, while directives are being issued here and there, including slapping a fine of Rs100 on any individual violating the mask mandate, sustained awareness campaigns are absent and adequate enforcement hardly exists to back up the official directives. Meanwhile, the public is worried about making their ends meet while pandemic rages in their midst. If the government is short of extending relief money that a lockdown would necessitate, at least don’t blame it all on the public when things go wrong.
Comments
Comments are closed.