Analysis | Pakistan’s military pressured to withdraw support for Imran Khan as Covid-19 cases soar
- The South Asian country’s problems range from coronavirus infections to a potential locust infestation, soaring inflation and food shortages
- Opposition politicians say Khan’s government has become a liability for its sponsors but neither can the military shield itself from blame
From fewer than 100,000 confirmed infections at the beginning of June, the number of cases is expected to hit 300,000 by the end of the month and over 1 million by late July or early August, planning minister Asad Umar – who chairs the joint civil-military committee overseeing Pakistan’s response to the pandemic – said on Sunday.
With mass outbreaks under way in 20 cities, the country’s public health care system has been overwhelmed in recent weeks. People have been turned away by hospitals in many major cities, and laboratories are buried under a backlog of tests.
The first of what doctors fear will be two infection peaks in Pakistan will coincide with the onset of the monsoon season. Officials anticipate it will trigger the worst locust infestation in 25 years, while meteorologists have forecast widespread flooding, potentially compromising national food security and displacing millions of people.
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This will pile on the misery for the millions of informal sector workers that the government said were rendered unemployed by the imposition of a piecemeal nationwide lockdown in April. According to the International Labour Organisation, the informal sector generates more than 70 per cent of the country’s employment outside agriculture.