Although Pakistan acted fast when the World Health Organisation (WHO) sounded the alarm over the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant, omicron, two cases have still managed to breach the travel ban, which was perhaps inevitable. It was therefore imperative to have a secure, robust and comfortable quarantine setup for those arriving from countries yet to be banned, for proper screening and testing to detect new cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus and isolate them. Not only has that facility not been effectively set up but one confirmed Omicron affected person has escaped quarantine and is yet to be found, potentially infecting hundreds, if not thousands, by the time he is apprehended, that is if he is ever found. That an additional 38 people have managed to flee quarantine from the centre, a hotel in Karachi, means that security is weak, possibly non-existent. What is more, these escapes have taken place over the course of some weeks, which means no preventative measures such as beefing up of security at the site were taken.
This is a shameful example of gross criminal negligence and must be punished. As per usual, the buck is being passed around quite aggressively with various stakeholders of the Sindh government being held responsible, from the health department to the police and deputy commissioner. It is important to remember that the Sindh government’s response to the pandemic in the very first wave of the country was so quick, rapid and nuanced that the federal government, which at the time was lacking any such qualities in how it was addressing the situation, became critical of the former for doing too much too soon. That the same Sindh government is unable to hold less than 50 people in a hotel for two weeks under is the perfect example of complacency setting in, maturing into incompetence and dangerous carelessness. Pakistan may have staved off the worst effects of the pandemic but there is almost no explanation supported by science as to how this came to be. Whether it is the latest variant or the next one, both provincial and federal governments must react to it as if it will wreak havoc if allowed to spread. Clearly no such present mindedness is to found in the Sindh government’s response to the omicron variant.
