The photograph of Prime Minister Imran Khan meeting the PTI’s spokesmen could not have sent a worse message. Spokesman Faisal Javed, one of the participants in the meeting, took the view that it showed how dedicated Mr Khan was to the public good, and how he was not letting the quarantine, in which he had to go because he had caught the coronavirus, stop him from working for the public benefit. The PTI’s adulation does not seem to take into consideration that the spokesmen were risking infection by their pilgrimage to Mr Khan’s presence. The reason for quarantine is that the person observing it is a danger to others. The subject of the meeting included PML(N) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz’s appearance before NAB. There has to be some irony in that appearance being cancelled— because of covid-19 fears.
Mr Khan could have shown by example the importance of quarantine, and how to self-isolate during one. He was photographed getting a dose of the coronavirus vaccine just before testing positive for the virus. Obviously, he is not the best advertisement for vaccines, but he must have been infected even before getting the vaccine, which shows why the vaccine should not be taken as a substitute for the kind of social distancing still needed to combat the coronavirus. Mr Khan seems to be following former US President Donald Trump, who tried to pretend the coronavirus didn’t exist right to the end of his Presidency.
Mr Khan too had found wearing a mask irksome, but ultimately he gave in, and set the kind of example expected from someone heading a government which has put in place numerous SOPs, and which claims that its efforts have not only succeeded, but have won kudos abroad. However, Mr Khan may have undone all of his good work so far by a single meeting. That meeting also exposed his spokesmen, who clearly do not think covid-19 is particularly dangerous, not even though positivity rates are hitting new heights, and the number of new infections shows that the disease is out of control. So casual were they that, instead of trying to hide or minimize the meeting, it was actually uploaded on social media.
