Six months after the coronavirus’s arrival in Pakistan, the country appears to have dodged the worst of the pandemic, baffling fitness experts and allebbing fears that its overcrowded urban spaces and ruined hospitals will be invaded.
After an initial outbreak, the number of infections has decreased in recent weeks, with Covid-19 deaths in a count each day, while neighboring India has a lot of deaths.
Pakistan has long failed to involve a large number of infectious diseases such as polio, tuberculosis and hepatitis, while successive governments have not funded its fitness sector for decades.
In addition, there are many Pakistanis in overcrowded, multi-generational houses or crowded apartment buildings announcing endemic transmission of the virus.
“No one has been able to with this declineArray . . . We don’t have a concrete explanation,” said Salman Haseeb, a doctor at the Lahore Hospital of Services in the east of the country.
Pakistanis have proposed many hypotheses about their country’s obvious ability to cope with the pandemic, attributing everything from the young population and the warm, humid climate to unproven claims of herbal immunity.
Its average age is only 22 years and coronavirus is known to have a disproportionate effect on other older people with complications of fitness in the past.
By comparison, Italy, with an average age of 46. 5 years, has recorded more than 35,000 deaths, while Pakistan’s official figure is around 6,300.
To date, the South Asian country has shown more than 295,000 infections and is lately registering a few hundred new ones depending on the day.
Observers say that with limited controls, the actual number of infections is significantly higher. A control training in Lahore reported that up to seven% of the city’s population had been exposed to the virus.
But Pakistan’s hospital anecdote supports the downward trend.
While fitness services were flooded in the first place, doctors across Pakistan told the AFP that they were no longer in a hurry to reach coronavirus-related emergency centers.
“Whatever the reasons, the point is that the first wave of the virus is almost over in Pakistan,” said Khizer Hayat, a doctor at Nishtar Hospital in the central city of Multan.
“The scenario is now low and the number of coronavirus cases is decreasing, rooms are emptying. It’s hard to know why. “
– ‘Smart’ locks –
A flattening curve is even more curious given the way the coronavirus has hit India, which with an average age of 26 years and overcrowded cities has a similar demographic.
Over the weekend, India set a new world record for the highest number of daily cases, with 78,761 new infections recorded in 24 hours, Delhi is testing at a much higher rate than Islamabad.
India also reported more than 64,000 deaths, the third largest in the world after the United States and Brazil.
Since registering its first case last February, Pakistan has responded with lawsuits and begins the pandemic, deploying loose blockades that were tougher revoked as crowds have turned away from social distancing rules and continue to flock to the markets and mosques.
However, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government was quick to welcome progress, and credit was given to “smart” employer closure policies and other measures, even if they were not implemented.
Last month, the Pakistani government lifted the maximum of remaining restrictions on coronaviruses in the country after new cases fell for several weeks.
Restaurants and parks have reopened, while others have flocked to theaters, buying supermarkets and returning to public transport. Schools and universities are expected to reopen at the end of September.
Masks have an increasingly infrequent view, making experts warn the public to stay alert to fears of a momentary wave.
“People think we defeated Covid-19, but I think the chances of the wave at the moment are still there,” warned Hassan Waseem, a microbiologist in Pakistan.
However, doctors suspect that the country has experienced the peak of the pandemic.
“I would reluctantly say there won’t be a wave at the moment in Pakistan. Most urban centers in Pakistan such as Lahore and Karachi have already experienced the worst coronavirus,” said Waheed Uz Zaman Tariq, head of the virology and infectious diseases branch at Chughtai Lab. .
“People also want to perceive that (the virus) has completely disappeared,” he added. “They still want to take precautions. “
str-zz-ds / wat / axn