Pakistan’s superstar Mahira Khan is also stuck at home with her family during the current coronavirus outbreak. She is living with her parents and tweeted that she was making her mother a cup of tea and heating up food when she broke a plate.
Her mother heard her drop the plate and, “started screaming from her room – arraay o mahiraaa tumhari tankha se kattaaay ga!” a response that most of us have heard from our mothers as well.
Her mother won at humour, Mahira says and many agreed with her.
With everyone under lockdown, it is being feared that cases of domestic violence and abuse will spike in the coming days. It has already been reported that cases of abuse are on the rise in Europe. The stress caused by social isolation coupled with fears around job security and financial difficulties is exacerbating tensions and increasing the risk of domestic and sexual violence against women and children.
“For many people, their home is already not a safe place,” says a German federal association of women’s counselling centres and helplines.
The case in Pakistan is also similar. You may have read accounts of people relating stories of their domestic staff begging them to let them come to work because they are miserable at their homes and face abuse there.
Keeping this in mind, the Ministry of Human Rights has launched a helpline for those who are vulnerable or are facing any kind of abuse.
In a tweet, the ministry shared the numbers of helplines and wrote, “Lockdowns and quarantine measures often leave women and children vulnerable to domestic abuse and violence – which is known to rise during emergencies.”
“Our helpline is here to help you,” they added.
Last week, The Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles, also extended her support and reached out to those who may be victims of domestic violence and abuse.
Meanwhile, according to a report in The Guardian, “Women and children who live with domestic violence have no escape from their abusers during quarantine, and from Brazil to Germany, Italy to China, activists and survivors say they are already seeing an alarming rise in cases of abuse.”
For example, in Hubei province, the heart of the initial coronavirus outbreak, domestic violence reports to police more than tripled in one county alone during the lockdown in February, activists told local media.
AFP reported that in Spain, which has the second-worst outbreak in Europe after Italy, a 35-year-old mother of two was murdered by her partner last week in front of their children in the coastal province of Valencia.
France’s interior minister Christophe Castaner revealed that reports of domestic violence across the country have jumped by more than 30% since the country went into lockdown on March 17th. Castaner said that in Paris alone, cases were up by 36%.
Activists say the increased threat to women and children was a predictable side effect of the coronavirus lockdowns. According to them, increased abuse “is a pattern repeated in many emergencies, whether conflict, economic crisis or during disease outbreaks, although the quarantine rules pose a particularly grave challenge.”
Women rights activists across the world are demanding their governments not to overlook those most vulnerable in these situations and help them out in whichever way possible. However, they fear that if the lockdown continues, cases of domestic violence could reach unprecedented heights.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is considering “airborne precautions” for medical staff after a new study showed the coronavirus can survive in the air in some settings.
The virus is transmitted through droplets, or little bits of liquid, mostly through sneezing or coughing, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, told reporters during a virtual news conference on Monday. The everyday person shouldn’t be concerned, but medical professionals may be susceptible when performing certain procedures, in certain situations.
According to Van Kerkhove, “When you do an aerosol-generating procedure, like in a medical care facility, you have the possibility to what we call aerosolise these particles, which means they can stay in the air a little bit longer.”
She added: “It’s very important that healthcare workers take additional precautions when they’re working on patients and doing those procedures.”
World health officials say the respiratory disease spreads through human-to-human contact, droplets carried through sneezing and coughing as well as germs left on inanimate objects. The coronavirus can go airborne, staying suspended in the air depending on factors such as heat and humidity, they said.
In a separate incident in the US, Adam Burdick, a choir conductor, informed the 121 members in an e-mail that amid the “stress and strain of concerns about the virus,” practice would proceed as scheduled at Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church.
Sixty singers showed up. A greeter offered hand sanitiser at the door, and members refrained from the usual hugs and handshakes.
“It seemed like a normal rehearsal, except that choirs are huggy places,” Burdick recalled. “We were making music and trying to keep a certain distance between each other.”
After two and a half hours, the singers parted ways at 9 pm.
Nearly three weeks later, 45 have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or ill with the symptoms, at least three have been hospitalised, and two are dead.
The outbreak has stunned county health officials, who have concluded that the virus was almost certainly transmitted through the air from one or more people without symptoms.
In interviews with the Los Angeles Times, eight people who were at the rehearsal said that nobody there was coughing or sneezing or appeared ill.
Everybody came with their own sheet music and avoided direct physical contact. Some members helped set up or remove folding chairs. A few helped themselves to mandarins that had been put out on a table in back.
Experts said the choir outbreak is consistent with a growing body of evidence that the virus can be transmitted through aerosols — particles smaller than 5 micrometers that can float in the air for minutes or longer.
A study published March 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that when the virus was suspended in a mist under laboratory conditions it remained “viable and infectious” for three hours — though researchers have said that time period would probably be no more than a half-hour in real-world conditions.
The coronavirus outbreak has confined us to the four walls of our house, something that our fast-paced, jet setting lifestyles are not used to. We all now have all this free time on our hands and no idea what to do with it.
Our favourite celebrities are also in the same situation and they decided to help their fans and followers by sharing some positive advice about what they can do. Here’s what Maya Ali and Saba Qamar suggest:
Earlier, Maya also encouraged those in a position of privilege to do charity and help those in need.
A week after the whole Maria B vs the Punjab Police fiasco, it has now been reported that the designer’s cook has tested negative for coronavirus. According to a report in Dawn, Maria’s cook, whose name has not been disclosed, was tested on March 26, a few days after he was admitted to the DHQ hospital in Vehari.
VIDEO: Renowned designer Maria B’s husband reportedly arrested for ‘criminal negligence’
The Medical Superintendent Dr Faazil said that the 30-year-old man was admitted on Vehari DHQ Hospital on March 22 after a private lab declared him corona-positive. When the patient returned to his hometown in Mauza Hasan Shah in Mailsi tehsil the same day, security agencies shifted him to the isolation ward of the hospital.
His blood samples were sent to the Institute of Public Health lab in Lahore for another test, the result of which came on March 26 and was negative.
Dr Faazil said the patient did not show any symptoms of the virus, adding that he would be discharged from the hospital after a report of his last and final test is received from Lahore in the next 24 hours. The doctor also shared that nine suspected patients of coronavirus were being treated at the DHQ hospital’s isolation ward, which had a capacity of 30 beds. He claimed that there was no positive case of the virus in the district yet.
VIDEO: PM Imran Khan rubbishes Maria B’s claims
On March 24, the Lahore Police had arrested Maria’s husband, Tahir Saeed in the middle of the night for criminal negligence. The police had said that the designer and her husband had sent their cook back home despite knowing that he had been tested positive for COVID-19. The police said that the cook had travelled on public transport, possibly infection hundreds on his way. Other people in his village also had to be quarantined due to this. Saeed was later released on bail.
Meanwhile, following this report, social media is lit with conspiracy theories regarding the cook’s result. While some people say that the latest reports have been tampered with, others say that the cook has probably recovered which is why his result came out negative in the latest report.
Read more – Maria B’s chandelier is Pakistan’s latest obsession
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has directed all universities and accredited institutions with sufficient resources to resume online classes as the government-ordered closure of schools, colleges and universities remains in place amid the spread of new coronavirus — COVID-19 — across Pakistan.
In an official notification, HEC has reportedly asked all universities which have well-built learning management systems (LMS) to initiate online classes. However, universities facing technological, technical or spatial limitations can remain closed for academic activities till May 31 and mark the said period as summer vacations.
In the meantime, these universities should make arrangements for conducting online classes in case the closure is extended because of the global pandemic, the notification read further.
“Such universities shall plan, acquire, train and shall be able to execute an LMS from June 1 so that [the] ongoing semester could resume even in an eventuality of the extended closure of universities.”
On Thursday, the federal government announced that education institutions across Pakistan would remain closed till May 31. The government also announced that the closure would be treated as summer vacations and if the coronavirus outbreak was dealt with in the meantime, the institutions would reopen in June.
At a time when higher education institutions in Pakistan and elsewhere in the world are fast shifting to online learning in the wake of closures to contain the spread of coronavirus, Pakistani students took to social media last week and demanded the authorities converted closures into semester break.
“We reject online education” popped up as one of the top trends in Pakistan on the microblogging website Twitter and the hash tag remained on the top for quite some time with most of the tweeters expressing concerns over no or poor internet connectivity and lack of, what they termed, “effectiveness” of the online education.
They demanded that the institutions instead of shifting to online education should convert closures in semester breaks and hold on-campuses classes when campuses reopen in summer.
According to The News, there are around 40 million students enrolled in public and private sector schools, colleges and universities of Pakistan. Of these, 24 million students are enrolled in primary schools, 7.6 million in middle schools, 4 million and over 1.5 million at secondary and higher secondary levels, respectively.
Punjab alone has around 13 million students enrolled in government schools. This shows that in terms of numbers the real affectees are particularly the schoolchildren for whom there is no online education facility during the current countrywide closures.
From wearing masks to cleaning hands with soap and water or sanitiser every hour, people are trying every possible way to protect themselves from falling sick amid the coronavirus outbreak.
With this leading to a shortage of sanitisers not just in Pakistan but also across the globe, videos showing rather desperate attempts by people to stay healthy in time of COVID-19, have started doing rounds over the internet.
One such video was recently shared by journalist Naila Inayat, who wrote, “When you think no one is watching you.”
The 32-second clip is a CCTV footage from March 27 of an ATM. The video shows a man taking out money from the machine. As soon as he puts the money in his pocket, he spots the bottle of hand sanitiser. Instead of pumping it in his hands, he puts the entire bottle inside his jacket and walks out of the vestibule.
WATCH VIDEO:
It, however, wasn’t the only video of its sort.
Here’s another video shared by a user on Facebook last week.
Meanwhile, similar videos have gone viral from across the border too.
Have something to add to this story? Let The Current know in the comments.
Superstars Mahira Khan and Atif Aslam are thanking Prime Minister Imran Khan and praising him for his efforts towards managing the COVID-19 outbreak, given that it is spreading at an alarming speed.
In a video posted to social media, the singer said, “I just wanted to appreciate PM Imran Khan for taking the necessary precautions and measures to deal with this pandemic. I want to tell everyone to look after themselves and the people around them in the capacity that they can.”
He continued, “I don’t want anything from the government, I don’t want anything from anyone… But I just wanted to appreciate our PM for everything that [he’s] doing, for the steps that [he’s] taking.
“At this time, we are all with you and if you ever need our help, whatever we can do, we’ll be there. Long live Pakistan,” he concluded.
Earlier, Mahira Khan and Mawra Hocane had also praised PM Khan and extended their support to him.
After the spread of coronavirus outbreak, people are asked to stay at their homes and practice social distancing to avoid the spread of the virus. Amid all this, people need groceries for their homes and some people might be worried about how to go and get them from the market.
The Current did some research and listed a few online grocery stores in your city.
Agha’s Supermarket
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AghasSupermarket/
Freshiez
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/freshiezpk/
Fowry
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/fowrryofficial/
Website: https://www.fowrry.com/
Road Runner
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/roadrunnerpk/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/GrocerApp.pk/
Jalal Sons
Shaheen Grocers
Fowry
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/fowrryofficial/
Al Fatah
If you have a branch of Al Fatah in your city then you can order your groceries from there.
Expressing displeasure with the federal government over its failure to revive the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday ordered jailing the health secretary for six months if the building was not opened in an hour.
PMDC — a statutory regulatory authority that maintained the official register of medical and dental practitioners in Pakistan — was in October last year dissolved and replaced by the Pakistan Medical Commission after the president signed the Pakistan Medical Commission Ordinance 2019 for the regulation of the medical profession.
On February 11, the IHC declared the federal government’s decision to dissolve the PMDC null and void. The court also issued contempt notices to the federal government and health department for not implementing its orders.
According to SAMAA, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani resumed hearing the contempt case on Monday. He said the PMDC should be made functional today. The authorities should break the lock on its building and make its registrar sit there. “A report should be submitted to the court in one hour,” the judge said.
The health secretary will be sent to jail for six months if the building is not opened in an hour, he remarked. “I have given you three dates already and you haven’t done anything.”
Not implementing court’s orders is contempt, the judge remarked. “This is a slap on the court’s face.” Such behaviour does not suit the federal government, said Justice Kayani, adding that the government should be ashamed.
The court also asked if PMDC employees were getting their salaries or not. The lawyer of the employees said that the they haven’t been paid in over five months.
TOP COURT AGAINST RELEASE OF PRISONERS AMID COVID-19 OUTBREAK:
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court (SC) has refrained high courts and all governments to pass any orders regarding the release of prisoners amid the coronavirus outbreak.
According to journalist Hasnaat Malik, the top court has also suspended the implementation of IHC orders regarding release of under-trial prisoners.
Punjab had last week decided to let go of almost 20,000 of its 46,000 prisoners amid the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis as jails in Pakistan remain overcrowded.
Jail superintendents, who had reached out to the courts to approve the bail of prisoners handed sentences of seven years or less, had reportedly taken the step in light of special instructions.
Bail requests were also filed for prisoners jailed for petty crimes, as well as the elderly, or criminals over 60 years of age.
The development had come days after IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minullah had ordered for bails to be issued for prisoners facing trial for minor crimes in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. He had made the decision while hearing a case of 1,362 incarcerated prisoners.
The top IHC judge had noted how prisons in Pakistan were in dire straits and that the situation would get out of control if any prisoner got infected.