Panic in Balochistan as number of COVID-19 cases rise to 175

Quetta: Panic has already set in across Balochistan, owing to a fast spread of the scourge of coronavirus and a sharp spike in the number of cases in the province amid criticism of the provincial government over its handling of Pakistani people coming back from Iran and later imposing a province-wide lockdown.

The coronavirus outbreak has sent most of the countries and even Pakistan’s big cities like Karachi and Lahore into a temporary shutdown mode where normal life continues to remain paralyzed. But, Balochistan’s approach to slow down the pandemic appeared to be reactive, rather than pre-emptive – the provincial government announced a three-week lockdown last week and that’s too a “partial” only to follow in the footsteps of Punjab and Sindh. Unlike the other provinces, the roads and streets of Quetta could not wear a deserted look so far. Balochistan reported its first case of COVID-19 on March 10, and over the few weeks, the cases multiplied exponentially – 175 infected and 1 death as of April 3. Medical experts believe that instead of local transmission, the virus entered in Pakistan from Iran where Pakistani people contracted the virus. In Iran, the first confirmed case of COVID-19 infection was reported on Feb 19, in Qom and so far 2,757 COVID-19 deaths with more than 41,495 confirmed infections.

Reports from Taftan, a small town of Pakistan and sub tehsil of Chaghi district of Balochistan and some 632 kms from Quetta, suggest over 7,000 Pakistanis had crossed the Pak-Iran border since the outbreak of the pandemic in Iran. However, it does not have any data of those who trespassed the border via unfrequented routes. The provincial health department’s data shows that 6,810 pilgrims and others, who were kept at the Taftan quarantine centre since February 28, had reached their hometowns in other parts of the country. At present, more than 300 people have been kept in the Taftan Quarantine Centre, most of them belonging to Quetta.

Massive complaints about the failure of Balochistan govt in handling, facilitating and accommodating people who have had travel history of Iran via Taftan, poured in. “We had been kept together in the hall of an official building Pakistan House Taftan which the Balochistan government had declared the quarantine center in the hot, dusty, squalid conditions without basic precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus” said Akbar Ali. Shortage of doctors and paramedical staff in Taftan forced the people to protest against the inadequate arrangements there and that too against the standards set by the WHO.

Sharing his experience, Sajjad Hussain said it was a nightmare because neither the quarantine service nor the testing procedure was satisfactory in Taftan. There were patients having cardiac problems, diabetes and other diseases but all were treated as if they were prisoners, he added. Perhaps, this was the reason that one of the cardiac patients, Ramzan Ali, passed away last week at Quetta’s Shaikh Zaid Hospital, Quetta, which had been declared as corona-designated hospital. Had the government adopted proper arrangements at Taftan, the spread of the virus in the country could have been prevented, medical experts believe.

There was not an ideal situation in Taftan and the successive provincial governments never tried to improve the health sector there. Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal, who also holds the portfolio of the health department, dispelled the impression that the arrangements were insufficient at the Taftan border. The Chief Minister, Jam Kamal Khan, in his tweet said: “We were catering, facilitating helping, accommodating and medically assisting them and asked the representatives of the provinces, did you send a single person to see your own people or send assistance”?

On the other hand, the province’s health infrastructure is woefully underfunded and unprepared for the eventual rush of the COVID-19 patients and suspected ones. Complaints about non-availability of kits, sanitizers and even face masks in the government hospitals have become a matter of routine. Balochistan’s most populous city, Quetta, has 32 functional ventilators only and five intensive care units to meet the demands of 3 million people. Kalat Mekran, Gwadar and other districts with a population of 10 million people have no ventilator in the government hospitals.