LETTER: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rightly warned that the country's economic problems will worsen if the novel coronavirus spreads unchecked. Pointing out that the initial momentum to contain it had since waned.

Although the situation in Pakistan is not as grave as in Iran, we too have fallen into complacency. There's little or no regard for the SOPs at public places to contain the spread of this deadly virus. The number of positive corona cases has already crossed the 200,000 mark with over 4,000 deaths; globally the death toll has surpassed 500,000. We all know that the government is striving to strike a delicate balance between lives and livelihoods but it must not lose sight of the fact that lives are always more precious than livelihoods.

Sukkur Sri Chand