{"id":2757,"date":"2020-12-19T22:23:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T17:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ziaurrehman.media\/?p=2757"},"modified":"2020-12-19T22:23:00","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T17:23:00","slug":"a-covid-19-surge-and-conspiracy-theories-roil-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zia-ur-rehman.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/19\/a-covid-19-surge-and-conspiracy-theories-roil-pakistan\/","title":{"rendered":"A Covid-19 Surge and Conspiracy Theories Roil Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/afpakwatch.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/newyorktime.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/afpakwatch.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/newyorktime.jpg?w=616\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2090\" width=\"645\" height=\"265\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By\u00a0Zia ur-Rehman\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/emily-schmall\">Emily Schmall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dec. 19, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed wp-block-embed-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-thenewyorktimes\"><iframe title=\"A Covid-19 Surge and Conspiracy Theories Roil Pakistan\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/svc\/oembed\/html\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2020%2F12%2F19%2Fworld%2Fasia%2Fpakistan-coronavirus.html\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none;max-width:500px;min-width:300px;min-height:550px;display:block;width:100%;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">KARACHI, Pakistan \u2014 Iqbal Shaheen, a taxi driver, drove his sick father to this city\u2019s three main hospitals. All of their intensive care beds and ventilators were occupied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mr. Shaheen was told there might be room at a private hospital, for $625 a day, far above what his earnings of $10 a day could cover. He took his father home to die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe poor cannot afford to be sick,\u201d Mr. Shaheen said. \u201cWithout political connections, a coronavirus patient cannot get admitted at a public hospital, while paying a private hospital\u2019s bills is unthinkable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As winter sets in, cold weather, pollution and public apathy to the coronavirus are weighing heavily on Pakistan\u2019s limited health care system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pakistan\u2019s Covid-19 positivity rate has rocketed up to\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/covid.gov.pk\/\" target=\"_blank\">about 7.7 percent<\/a>\u00a0of tests administered in recent weeks from only 2 percent in October, prompting a plea from health experts and doctors in Karachi for the government to impose a strict nationwide lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prime Minister Imran Khan has closed schools but has ruled out a second lockdown, saying it would decimate the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe don\u2019t want to lead people to death due to hunger, while saving them from coronavirus,\u201d&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1592456\/pm-rules-out-shutdown-of-factories-businesses\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mr. Khan told journalists in November<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By official figures, Pakistan is weathering the coronavirus better than the United States, Europe and neighboring India. Total infections have reached 448,522, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University using official figures, and more than 9,000 people have died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, cases are surging, and limited testing compared with other countries suggests the virus could be racing through the country at an even higher rate. Health experts cite ineffective government limits on personal contact and widespread doubts, often fueled by conspiracy theories, that Covid-19 poses a threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pakistan was also lulled into a false sense of security. A widely predicted rise in infections over the summer failed to show up in official numbers. Government restrictions on travel or the overall youth and resilience of Pakistan\u2019s population may have contributed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPakistanis remained safe during the first wave and didn\u2019t face a serious situation like seen in other countries, mainly because of God\u2019s special blessings,\u201d said Dr. Qaiser Sajjad, a leader of the Pakistan Medical Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second wave is proving more lethal. Some hospitals are turning away patients. In Dr. Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital in Karachi, managers are scrambling for beds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe government seems to have failed to enforce health guidelines,\u201d Dr. Sajjad said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the Holy Family Hospital in the city of Rawalpindi, virus wards that had been nearly empty are beginning to fill. Now, about a quarter of the 120-bed facility has been taken up, said Dr. Akhtar Mehmood, the hospital\u2019s coronavirus coordinator, though patients are in worse condition than during the first wave. \u201cThis is a major difference,\u201d he said, adding that the hospital can take more patients as needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the rise, people in Karachi show few signs of concern. Even as the positive testing rate topped 18 percent in the city of 20 million, markets were packed with shoppers without masks. Buses were full. Overflow passengers rode on the roofs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Winter is wedding season. At night, people embrace and shake hands at crowded indoor ceremonies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/12\/20\/world\/20virus-pakistan-print2\/merlin_178931178_07e958db-aab3-4551-9dcc-ed2acebebdba-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"394\" \/><figcaption>The government has closed public schools to limit the spread of the coronavirus but has resisted a broader lockdown.Credit&#8230;Saiyna Bashir for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the summer, when official figures showed infections falling, Mr. Khan\u2019s government credited its strategy of limited lockdowns. It had called in the Pakistan military, which\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/07\/21\/world\/asia\/pakistan-election-military.html\">plays an outsize role<\/a>\u00a0in the democratic country\u2019s politics and is relatively well-organized and disciplined compared with the civil government. It also cited knowledge it had gained through a polio eradication effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the summer, when official figures showed infections falling, Mr. Khan\u2019s government credited its strategy of limited lockdowns. It had called in the Pakistan military, which\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/07\/21\/world\/asia\/pakistan-election-military.html\">plays an outsize role<\/a>\u00a0in the democratic country\u2019s politics and is relatively well-organized and disciplined compared with the civil government. It also cited knowledge it had gained through a polio eradication effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne clear consistent hallmark has been a coordinated, professional, data-driven, epidemiological response,\u201d said Dr. Faisal Sultan, an adviser to Mr. Khan and Pakistan\u2019s de facto health minister. \u201cThat\u2019s the one thing that differentiates Pakistan from other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Sultan faulted the rising caseload on lax compliance with health guidelines on mask wearing and strangers mingling at weddings and protests. Still, he said, data showed that state interventions were working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other evidence cast doubt on the effectiveness of the government\u2019s response. Under pressure from religious groups in the deeply conservative country, the government weakened many social distancing efforts almost immediately after enacting them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When police tried to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/23\/world\/asia\/pakistan-coronavirus-ramadan.html?searchResultPosition=7\">prevent worshipers from gathering at mosques<\/a>&nbsp;for prayers during the peak of coronavirus cases in April, they found themselves under attack. In Karachi, some worshipers chased the police through narrow alleyways, pelting them with rocks and sending several officers to the hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The government has proved equally ineffective at imposing restrictions as it battles a second wave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thousands of people have attended anti-government rallies in recent weeks. Religious congregations have ignored the official ban on assemblies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPeople are not following safety precautions and therefore the situation at the health facilities is getting more serious day by day,\u201d said Dr. Ismail Memon, a senior official at Dr. Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the rate of infection grows, anxiety is also rising among the ranks of small merchants, who were badly injured by Pakistan\u2019s monthslong lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Haji Dilbar, who sells secondhand shoes out of a cart in a lower-income Karachi neighborhood, said anyone who wears a mask is treated like a pariah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He believes, as surveys show many Pakistanis do, that the government has exaggerated the Covid-19 threat to \u201cearn dollars\u201d from western countries in the form of foreign aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/gallup.com.pk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Gallup-Pakistan-Coronavirus-Attitude-Tracker-Survey-Wave-8-.pdf\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">survey<\/a>&nbsp;conducted in October by Gallup Pakistan showed that 55 percent of respondents in Pakistan doubted that the virus was real and 46 percent believed it was a conspiracy. Those attitudes make it tougher to enforce mask-wearing and other preventive measures and could complicate the distribution of vaccines when they become widely available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou do have the challenge of some vaccine resistance,\u201d said Dr. Sultan, Mr. Khan\u2019s adviser, \u201cand I expect that there will be some anti-vaxxers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Places like the village of Manga in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on the border with Afghanistan, will present particular challenges. Fear broke out in March in Manga after one person died and more than 50 people tested positive. As the virus ebbed, some wondered whether the government exaggerated the danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some people are conjuring up conspiracy theories similar to those that have&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/04\/29\/world\/asia\/pakistan-polio-vaccinations-campaign.html\">haunted a national campaign to eradicate polio<\/a>, which includes allegations that politicians are pocketing aid money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFirst the government made money in the name of polio,\u201d said Syed Nawab, a Manga resident, \u201cand now they are selling coronavirus to earn dollars from western countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Politicians and clerics have sown doubts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SAMRIReports\/status\/1329460910478553091?s=20\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">recent video<\/a>&nbsp;of Faisal Raza Abidi, a former senator, claiming that Covid-19 is \u201ca massacre ultimately aimed at Iran and Pakistan as they don\u2019t accept Greater Israel\u201d has circulated widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In April, Tariq Jamil, a popular Islamic preacher, used a televised sermon that was attended by Mr. Khan to assert that the virus was God\u2019s wrath over women dancing and dressing immodestly. In another video spread on social media, Kaukab Okarvi, a cleric, accused doctors of killing patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rather than take on powerful political and religious figures, the government has aimed new health restrictions at small businesses. It is levying fines for staying open late or failing to make customers wear masks, leaving some merchants grumbling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cInstead of stopping them from holding rallies, government personnel harass small traders, restaurant and marriage hall owners, and mint money in the name of Covid-19 health regulations,\u201d said Hakeem Shah, a merchant who organized a protest against restrictions earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The government has also closed schools. About one quarter of the country\u2019s 220 million people are school-age children. Private schools for Pakistan\u2019s tiny elite have resumed online classes, but most schoolchildren lack computers, internet connections or even electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLow-cost private schools and thousands of public schools and colleges are in no position to provide the facility of online education,\u201d said Ikramullah, an education activist in Karachi who uses one name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some parents are sending their children to madrasas, or Islamic schools, that have refused to close their doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe follow the directions of our top religious scholars,\u201d said Mufti Shabbir Farooqi, a teacher at a Karachi madrasa whose enrollment has swelled to 1,400 students from 900, \u201cnot the government ministers or law enforcement officers for whether to open or close the madrasas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zia ur-Rehman reported from Karachi, Pakistan, and Emily Schmall reported from New Delhi. Salman Masood contributed reporting from Islamabad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By\u00a0Zia ur-Rehman\u00a0and\u00a0Emily Schmall Dec. 19, 2020 KARACHI, Pakistan \u2014 Iqbal Shaheen, a taxi driver, drove his sick father to this city\u2019s three main hospitals. All of their intensive care beds and ventilators were occupied. Mr. Shaheen was told there might be room at a private hospital, for $625 a day, far above what his earnings [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1361,1363,27],"tags":[326,1015],"class_list":["post-2757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-conflict-militancy","category-karachi-security","category-new-york-times","tag-covid-19-in-pakistan","tag-propaganda-against-covid-19"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zia-ur-rehman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zia-ur-rehman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zia-ur-rehman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zia-ur-rehman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zia-ur-rehman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zia-ur-rehman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2757\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zia-ur-rehman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zia-ur-rehman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zia-ur-rehman.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}