Category: Health

The Current a variety of health and wellness blog post ideas, divided into key categories such as nutrition, fitness, mental health, and more.

  • Sehatmand Pakistan: Govt’s new chat system to inform people about coronavirus

    Sehatmand Pakistan: Govt’s new chat system to inform people about coronavirus

    The government has launched a new chat system to provide basic information on the new coronavirus — COVID-19 –, Tania Aidrus tweeted.

    The chat system named ‘Pakistan Government Official Corona Chatbot’ can be accessed through the Facebook page of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination.

    A chatbot is an auto-generated message that a user receives from a digital media platform.

    This new digital media service can answer all basic questions regarding coronavirus. Moreover, it can guide you about the preventive measures that should be taken to reduce the risks of contracting the virus, and suggest you see your nearest facility for screening if you are experiencing any of the virus symptoms.

    For more information, Facebook users can visit the page of Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Islamabad.

    https://www.facebook.com/NHSRCOfficial/?epa=SEARCH_BOX
  • Deceased Peshawar patient did not have coronavirus, tests confirm

    Deceased Peshawar patient did not have coronavirus, tests confirm

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra has withdrawn his earlier tweet regarding the first death of a suspected coronavirus case in Peshawar, saying that the deceased had tested negative for COVID-19.

    Earlier, it was reported that the patient had been admitted to Hayatabad Medical Complex in Peshawar and his test results were awaited, causing panic over what could have been Pakistan’s first reported death due to the new coronavirus.

    RELATED: How to get yourself tested for coronavirus in Pakistan

    If he had the virus when he died, he will be the first confirmed coronavirus death in Pakistan. However, the website https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ has already listed one death for Pakistan in it’s rankings of cases around the world.

    Screenshot from website worldometer info, which is ranking coronavirus cases in the world. Pakistan is listed as having one death due to the virus

    READ MORE: Sindh confirms 41 new cases of coronavirus, 94 infections confirmed in Pakistan

    There are at least 94 more cases in Pakistan and are steadily rising.

  • 13 new polio cases reported in a single day in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

    13 new polio cases reported in a single day in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

    In a shocking development, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported 13 new cases of type 2 polio cases. This is the highest number of cases to be reported in the province in one day.

    According to the provincial health department, seven of the cases were reported from Khyber tribal district, while one case each was reported from Lakki Marwat, Bannu, Mardan, Nowshera, Bajaur and Lower Dir.

    WATCH: The Current tours Pakistan’s Polio Lab

    A senior public health specialist told a leading newspaper on condition of anonymity, that several Pakistani health specialists had raised the issues over the polio programme, but “they are either sidelined or kicked out of the programme,” also adding that the reason why the virus spreading so fast is that not every child is being reached in infected areas and the government is missing a lot of children that need to be vaccinated.

    “Pakistan has this year reported 25 cVDP2 (type 2) cases, in which Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone had a share of 24,” the report said. Type 2 polio does not cause paralysis but is debilitating. The type 2 virus was eliminated in the country in 2016 and reemerged last year.

    In 2019, Pakistan had reported 22 cases of type two polio cases, including 16 from KP. These were apart from type one polio cases in 2020, which are 29 in the country and 15 in KP.

    “It is a money-driven programme and huge salaries and incentives are being taken by the consultants at the top level. Unfortunately, some people in the programme are very influential and answerable to none and they set their agenda ignoring local needs and requirements,” he maintained, according to The News.

    Another senior official said that after working with the polio programme for many years, he realises that the elimination of polio is not a priority.

  • Win for embattled Pakistan as 64-year-old coronavirus patient recovers

    In what is being termed as a major win for the country amid reports that the new coronavirus can be fatal for the elderly, a 64-year-old infected man in Karachi has been discharged from the hospital following complete recovery, government officials have confirmed.

    Journalist Omar Qureshi had on Thursday tweeted that a 64-year-old suffering from coronavirus in Pakistan had recovered.

    The tweet had come after reports said that a second patient infected with the COVID-19 had been discharged from the hospital.

    Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab confirmed the development, saying that the 64-year-old had tested negative and sent back home.

    Provincial health officials had on Wednesday said the second coronavirus patient in Karachi was recovering and would be discharged soon if his condition improved further.

    The resident of the port city’s Kharadar neighbourhood was admitted to Civil Hospital on February 29. According to the hospital administration, further tests were conducted on Wednesday and were sent to the lab. “The patient would be discharged if the test results are negative,” the hospital administration had added.

    The family members of COVID-19 patient were also tested the day he contracted the virus. However, the results were negative.

    Earlier, the first coronavirus patient was discharged from the hospital after full recovery.

    The patient was in isolation and treatment for the past 10 days and was tested three times.

    The young patient, who is believed to have contracted the virus in the Iranian holy city of Qum, was diagnosed on February 26 and subsequently shifted to the isolation ward of a private hospital. He had travelled to the Islamic Republic in a group of 28 pilgrims.

  • VIDEO: Senior journalist cracks netizens up by saying ‘coronavirus came from Italy’s corona city’

    VIDEO: Senior journalist cracks netizens up by saying ‘coronavirus came from Italy’s corona city’

    A senior journalist and analyst has left netizens in fits of laughter after claiming that the new coronavirus “probably originated in the corona city of Italy” that is the most affected by the global pandemic.

    There is no city called ‘corona’ in Italy, and even if there was, we doubt it could have anything to do with the outbreak of the COVID-19 that, since its discovery in Wuhan city of China, has claimed over 4,500 lives with at least 126,000 infections.

    “…it’s happening in Italy that is very much affected and corona[virus] probably originated from its corona area,” senior journalist Nazir Leghari can be heard as saying in a video doing rounds over the internet.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Here’s what Twitterati have to say about it:

    Some even went on to explain how COVID-19 — the new coronavirus — got its name.

    COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a new virus that had not been previously identified in humans. The virus causes respiratory illness (like the flu) with symptoms such as a cough, fever and in more severe cases, pneumonia. You can protect yourself by washing your hands frequently and avoiding touching your face.

    It was discovered in mainland China in mid-December and has since spread globally despite efforts to contain it.

  • Govt clarifies report on Sindh CM’s brother-in-law ‘contracting coronavirus’

    Govt clarifies report on Sindh CM’s brother-in-law ‘contracting coronavirus’

    A Sindh government spokesperson, in an exclusive conversation with The Current, has rubbished reports claiming that Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah’s brother-in-law has contracted coronavirus as the pandemic spreads across Karachi.

    With nine new cases in Sindh, the total number of cases of the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — in Pakistan on Monday rose to 16, out of which two patients are undergoing treatment in Islamabad while one female patient is undergoing treatment at a health facility in Gilgit-Baltistan.

    The development was followed by a private media outlet’s report that one of the persons who had tested positive for coronavirus in Karachi had reached the port city from Syria via Doha on Sunday, and was the brother-in-law of Sindh CM.

    “Asif Hyder Shah is a federal secretary and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Karachi after testing positive for COVID-19,” the report had claimed.

    The claim, however, was rejected by a spokesperson of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government in Sindh. “Asif Hyder Shah is a federal secretary and brother-in-law of Murad Ali Shah, but he hasn’t tested positive for the virus,” the spokesperson told The Current.

    While it was confirmed that seven persons who reached Karachi from Syria via Doha had tested positive for the coronavirus in the last two days, CM Murad’s brother-in-law wasn’t among them.

    Meanwhile, strict measures have been taken by the government, including extending border closure with Afghanistan for seven more days and installing screening machines at all major airports in the country.

    According to reports, the Sindh government is considering a proposal to issue an advisory requesting a ban on public events, including the Pakistan Super League (PSL), and it is likely that the remaining matches of the PSL to be held in Karachi will be shifted to Lahore.

    A meeting of the provincial authorities has also recommended setting up a health desk at the Karachi airport.

    With the help of the desk, all those entering Karachi through the airport will be screened for the coronavirus. A spokesperson for the health department said health desks will also be established at hospitals, Geo reported.

    The desks at hospitals, named front-line desks, will provide up-to-date information about the spread of the virus in the city. 

    A recommendation to shut schools in the province for a longer period will also be sent to the Sindh CM; exams would, however, be held as per schedule, the Sindh Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah has said.