Pakistan has transformed into a covid-19 success story

As the covid-19 pandemic rages on, Pakistan is emerging as an unheralded, and unlikely, success story. Despite having the fifth highest population in the world, Pakistan’s cumulative covid-19 cases at 281,136, and 6,014 total deaths. rank the country 14^th and 19^th in the world. However, most remarkable of all is Pakistan’s progress over the last month, which has seen it rebound from the brink of disaster.

Last week, Pakistan’s recorded daily covid-19 cases returned to the three-figure mark – the lowest since May. On Tuesday, Pakistan reported 432 new cases and 15 deaths, signifying a ten-fold decrease in both stats within a span of two months.

This is a remarkable turnaround given the predictions of the awful toll the virus might have. An Imperial College London study in June indicated Pakistan could hit 13.6 million infections by August 4 and 80,000 deaths by August 10, if it failed to fully lockdown. In mid-June, government ministers warned that cases of covid-19 could hit 1.2