WHO using 'health lens' to assess COVID-19 situation in Pakistan — Zafar Mirza

A passenger waring a facemask sits on a bus in a street in Karachi on June 8, 2020. Pakistan has recorded more than 100,000 cases of coronavirus, health authorities said on June 8, as hospitals warned they are running out of beds to treat patients. (AFP)

• The PM’s adviser says the government is keeping an eye on the ‘holistic picture’ while dealing with the virus surge
• Earlier, the World Health Organization had asked Pakistan to re-impose intermittent lockdowns to curb the virus cases

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr. Zafar Mirza said on Wednesday that the World Health Organization was only considering the health perspective while suggesting intermittent lockdowns to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country, adding that the government had to keep an eye on the “holistic picture” while developing its strategy.
“We have to make tough policy choices to strike a balance between lives and livelihoods,” he was quoted as saying in a statement released by the health ministry. “We have consciously but gradually eased generalized lockdowns but at the same time we have focused on the enforcement of [precautionary measures] in shops, industries, mosques and public transport.”
“Along with this,” he continued, “we have developed a robust tracing, testing and quarantine policy to identify hotspots and cordon them off. Currently, there are more than 700 such smart lockdowns in place. The other plank of our strategy is ramping up of our health system’s capacity to cater to the growing number of patients.”
Mirza added that Pakistan understood the global body’s role to provide recommendations to member states, though he also maintained that the organization was using a “health lens” while governments had to take into account the holistic picture and make decisions on relative risk assessment basis.
Earlier, the WHO asked the Pakistani authorities to re-impose “intermittent lockdowns” of targeted areas to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, stating the country did not meet its conditions for lifting restrictions.
The statement came as a surge of new cases hit the South Asian nation after the government lifted its lockdown on May 9 citing economic pressures.
In letters sent by the WHO on June 7 to health authorities of Pakistan’s two most populous provinces, Punjab and Sindh, it stressed the need to mitigate the risk of the health system collapsing.
More than one in five people have tested positive for COVID-19 over the last two weeks, compared with one in 10 before the lockdown was lifted, government statistics showed.
“WHO strongly recommends the government adapt the two weeks off and two weeks on strategy,” said the letter signed by WHO’s Head of Mission in Pakistan Dr. Palitha Mahipala.
It was not immediately clear if the same advice was also sent to other provinces or the federal government.
The letter said the WHO recommends six conditions for lifting restrictions, including the disease transmission being “under control,” being able to detect, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact, essential places having established preventive measures, and communities being educated, engaged and empowered to “live under a new normal.”
Pakistan, the letter said, met none of the conditions.
Punjab and Sindh authorities both endorsed the WHO’s concerns and said the provincial cabinets would discuss the recommendations.
It is “extremely important” to develop capacity to conduct beyond 50,000 tests daily, the letter stated
Pakistan, a country of over 207 million people, has tested a maximum of 24,000 people daily.