The big news now: US President Donald Trump and his wife have tested positive for Covid-19.
The world knows very well that the president of the most powerful country of the world, both militarily and economically, is not fond of wearing masks and distancing.
According to the US media, Trump rebuked Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden for wearing masks. This should give a clear idea about Trump's attitude towards masks.
Wishing the US president and the first lady a speedy recovery, let's focus on our country with respect to wearing masks and physical distancing, the two most important practices that can keep the deadly coronavirus at bay.
After the outbreak of coronavirus in our country in early March, people seemed conscious and rightly worried about it. Most people, if not all, wore masks and tried to maintain physical distancing, although in a densely-populated country like ours, it is a bit difficult to keep distance from one to another. Of course, there was an effort from the administration to make sure that people wear masks and maintain physical distancing. Even military personnel were deployed to enforce those practices.
But things are quite the opposite now. People and the administration, both now appear to be kind of complacent, or confident, or callous.
Despite the prime minister's recent warning of a second wave of the virus, few wear masks and physical distancing seems to be a thing of the past. Even pharmacists and law enforcers can be seen without masks. Enforcement of these good practices seems all but absent.
It is worth mentioning that with respect to wearing masks and physical distancing, people living in the villages are much more careless than their urban counterparts. In cities and towns you will find people with masks, but in villages, people wearing masks are a minority.
This should not be allowed to continue. We must remember that according to government data so far, more than 366,000 people have been infected with this virus. Of them, over 5,300 died from it. There are enough reasons to believe that the true figure is higher.
The country cannot afford the impact of a second wave and the administration must be adequately prepared. Right after the outbreak in March, the weaknesses of our health system were exposed very clearly.
So, all-out efforts must be there to prevent the virus. And to do that, it is imperative the government makes sure that people are aware of the benefits of wearing masks and physical distancing.
Tough measures should also be taken against people who are not willing to exercise these easy to do practices because they are not only putting their lives in danger but also endangering the lives of others.
