The current number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan is nearly 140,000 and a death toll of 2,700. Experts say that cases can double to 300,000 by the end of June and may reach 1.2 million on the following month.
The country has seen a surge of cases in the past two weeks, and hospitals are at or near their capacity, and some are already starting to turn COVID-19 patients away.
People continue to violate government restrictions and health guidelines such as the practice of social distancing. They continue to crowd mosques and markets during Ramadan and ahead of the Eid festival in May.
Ignored Health Guidelines Led to Higher Cases of COVID-19
Planning Minister of Pakistan, Asad Umar, who is helping coordinate the government' response on the pandemic, cautioned that the country's cases had reached a worrisome number today.
"Expert estimates say the number of confirmed cases could go up to 300,000 by the end of June if we keep on flouting SOPs (standard operating procedures) and taking the problem lightly," Umar told the reporters in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan.
They fear that this number of confirmed cases could go up further to 1.2 million by the end of July, Daily Mail reported.
Their worries stem from the people ignoring the guidelines on social distancing, hygiene and other measures to fight the disease set by the government.
The authorities have ramped up their testing efforts, but the 25,000 testings per day conducted on people - equivalent to four tests per 1,000 people - are not enough. They suspect that the real number of people infected could be higher than 140,000.
According to the World Health Organization, Pakistan can see cases rise to more than 800,000 in July if a new intermittent lockdown was not imposed.
Moreover, the UN health agency condemned Pakistan's lifting of lockdown restrictions which began on April 1 until May 22.
The nationwide lockdown was opposed by the country's Prime Minister Imran Khan since March sighting the impoverished economy of the country, and they cannot afford lockdowns.
"Some people say "lockdown, lockdown, lockdown!" as if that is a solution," Khan said in a televised address to the nation.
He emphasized that Pakistan's situation is different from the US, China and other countries since 25% of their country is in poverty. Which means a lockdown could significantly affect the poor. Moreover, he encouraged everyone to observe social distancing to control the spread of coronavirus.
But in the end, the country has still implemented lockdown. However, right after the festival of Eid, the cases rose rapidly with 1,000 cases in the province within 50 days. Just recently, the government has recorded another 1,000 cases in just the last three days.
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Health Care System Is Collapsing
Since the Muslim country is celebrating Ramadan, a group of senior doctors in Pakistan has requested religious leaders and the PM to reverse a decision to leave mosques open from April 23 to May 23. This is to avoid the spread of the virus, which affect mostly the vulnerable group of elderly people who are also more likely to attend the prayers.
However, they were not listened to and instead, the government has allowed for mass prayer. Thousands went to the mosques and many of them without masks or practicing social distancing.
Pakistan recorded 5,834 coronavirus cases in a single day on June 10.
In March, Italy was recording over 6,000 cases in a day. https://t.co/7zw4cCdO6x pic.twitter.com/b8lmivukjS — Benazir Shah (@Benazir_Shah) June 11, 2020
From late May, health authorities have recorded a sudden sharp rise in infections. On June 13, 6,472 people had tested positive of the virus. The doctors fear that the health care system is on the brink of collapse amid sudden increases.
Pakistan only offers six hospital beds per 10,000 people, a far cry from the UK's 28 beds per 10,000.
Dr. Naveed Ahmed Khan, a surgeon at Peshawar's Hayatabad Medical Complex, told Al Jazeera that there had not been a single day in the last week where a single bed had become available. The only time it becomes vacant is when someone died or was discharged.
The government has now decided to go for smart lockdowns, which will star in Punjab province, said Umar.
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