Since Covid-19 crisis picked up in Pakistan, have been seeing a concerted effort by the media to continue & cause confusion about the pronouncement by the Federal govt and PTI governed provinces except for Sindh. Sindh has been presented as the one province that took this (1/N)

crisis head on & showed great leadership in dealing with the pandemic. The media is a self-serving political entity on its own. They've tried to prop up PMLN & later JUI-F. The recent news media cheerleading of Sindh Govt's response to COVID-19 should be seen in that light. (2/N)

The ultimate losers are Pakistani citizens because in a time of crisis, media has created political fireworks & even planted false narratives in news outlets abroad. Knowing this, the spin was clearly visible & to understand details you must separate the hype from reality. (3/N)

So, reviewing the “fantastic” response from Sindh against parameters that have been recommended by WHO and experts dealing with the pandemic. The most common plan of action has been to test, isolate and trace. Against this major response the Sindh govt by its own admission (4/N)

has been woeful. As of 16th Apr, Sindh comes in 5th amongst Provinces & in terms of testing per million (ICT – 1900, GB – 924, Punjab – 435, Baluchistan – 360, Sindh – 335, KP - 175). Govt testing capacity in Sindh is at 4 centers with 3 being in KHI and one in Hyd. (5/N)

In addition to testing let’s look at the physical infrastructure that the Sindh govt has built vs other provinces Designated Hospitals – Baluchistan 10, Kp – 7, Punjab -6, SINDH & GB – 4, AJK – 3, ICT -1 (6/N)

Quarantine Facilities – Punjab –6 Facilities with 10948 Beds, Baluchistan–10 Facilities with 5897 Beds,KP – 52 Facilities with 2760 beds,SINDH – 2 Facilities with 2100 beds, GB – 63 facilities with 972 beds, AJK – 4 facilities with 530 beds, ICT –2 facilities with 350 Beds (7/N)

Hospital with Isolation Facilities – Punjab – 50 Facilities with 955 Beds, KP – 110 Facilities with 856 beds, Baluchistan – 14 Facilities with 534 beds, AJK – 15 Facilities with 310 beds, SINDH – 4 facilities with 151 beds, GB – 21 facilities with 126 beds (8/N)

Tertiary Hospitals – Baluchistan – 10, KP – 7, Punjab – 6, SINDH & GB – 4, AJK – 3, ICT – 1. Now to the final element, which is isolate. The recent confusion of shutting down 11 UCs in Karachi was an example of how Sindh has mismanaged the crisis from day one. (9/N)

Sindh has local transmission rate of 70%(more than twice national avg of 31%)of all cases which testifies to the fact that despite claims of 1st to lockdown & greatest ever lockdown they miserably failed in doing their job. Punjab&KP have local transmission of 5& 41%. (10/N)

The response to the econ emergency has been equally lackluster with Sindh announcing 20 million Rs per district which would amount to 560 million Rs. Punjab has announced 10 Billion Rs and federal govt has announced support worth 1200 Bn Rs (where Sindh will also benefit) (11/N)

The 560 Million announced by Sindh is also not being utilized to date and serious reports of funds being mismanaged through expired ration deliveries to the most vulnerable. The only thing the Sindh govt has done is pickup concepts from developed countries and peddle them (12/N)

as workable in Pakistan (lockdown/ curfews) & consistently malign federal govt for its own shortcomings. This spin by Sindh govt would not be possible without the help of our English-speaking media & their extended clique amongst the chattering intellectuals in Pakistan.(13/N)

The Imran Khan led Federal Govt on the other hand has made available all relevant focal points to brief media everyday about the ongoing activities within their spheres. Announced (started delivering) on an emergency economic package for the most vulnerable segments of (14/N)

our society worth 1200 Bn Rs,ramped up funding for NDMA (25 Bn Rs) to plan & source PPEs, testing kits & ventilators for all of Pakistan. It’s made sure that no food shortages have resulted since this crisis came started, it has worked to repatriate Pakistanis stuck abroad (15/N)

it is working with IFIs to get financial support for our Covid-19 response and the PM is leading the effort for debt write off/ moratorium for developing countries. (16/16)