As the country officially entered a national state of disaster,  frontline workers put their lives on the line. People holed up at home feared what the army and police might do — and did — while public and private-sector opportunists embarked on a shameless mass swindle.           

Every crisis presents an opportunity. For the unscrupulous keen to make a quick buck at taxpayers’ expense, the countrywide disaster was the start of high season for mass corruption. ..