Tag: coronavirus

  • Shehbaz Sharif, Shaukat Tarin test positive for Covid-19

    Shehbaz Sharif, Shaukat Tarin test positive for Covid-19

    Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif has tested positive for Covid-19 again.

    Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin has also tested positive for coronavirus 

    The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) official Twitter handle shared the news.

    The PML-N president, had last tested positive for COVID-19 in June 2020.

    Shehbaz is currently isolated at home and resting as per his doctor’s advice.

    Pakistan is currently battling a fifth wave of the pandemic with a current positivity rate up to 9.5 percent and 5472 positive case of the coronavirus.

  • Karachi Eat 2022 will be held this weekend despite 20 percent positivity rate in city

    Karachi Eat 2022 will be held this weekend despite 20 percent positivity rate in city

    The annual food festival, Karachi Eat 2022 will be held at the Beach View Park in Clifton from Friday till Sunday this month. The organisers are hopeful that the festival will be held according to schedule. They are not intending to cancel the event despite the covid positivity rate increasing to 20 percent in Karachi.

    East River, which is responsible for public relations and digital media of the festival, has taken strict precautionary measures to ensure SOPs compliance for the crowd. They have also uploaded the mandatory instructions on their official Instagram for people who want to attend the food festival.

    According to the Head of Special Projects Amna Saleem, people will receive booster shots of Pfizer at the festival in partnership with HANDS, a Non-Governmental organisation (NGO). It is also mandatory to wear masks and carry your vaccination certificate.

    The company has arranged an online ticketing system and partnered with TicketWala this time to avoid overcrowding at the ticket booth.

    Meanwhile, the Covid positivity rate has increased to 20 percent in Karachi which is an alarming situation. Until now, 1,223 cases of coronavirus of omicron variant are confirmed in the city.

    According to the Sindh health ministry, “The ratio of Omicron variant being reported in Karachi has reached 95 percent.”

  • Shehzad Roy becomes ambassador for population and family planning

    Shehzad Roy becomes ambassador for population and family planning

    A Pakistani singer and social activist, Shehzad Roy has been appointed by the government as an honorary brand ambassador for population and family planning.

    The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination issued the notification in which it stated that the decision was taken in the meeting of the federal task force of population presided by the President of Pakistan, Dr Arif Alvi.

    The singer has voiced his opinion on different occasions against societal issues such as corporal punishment against children and child abuse.

    He is running a successful non-governmental foundation, Zindagi Trust to promote education among underprivileged children. Under his philanthropist work, he upgraded government schools and introduced state of art playgrounds to promote sports and modern education with the scientific approach.

    According to the website, he reformed two Karachi schools SMB Fatima Jinnah Government Girls School and Khatoon-e-Pakistan Government Girls School where children belonging to various ethnic and religious backgrounds are studying together.

    He was also awarded Sitar-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan in recognition for his philanthropist work in 2005.

    He recently released the soulful Music Video, ‘Maula Vey’ featuring Syra Yousuf in which he conveyed the message to get vaccinated to protect your loved ones against coronavirus.

  • Factcheck: Sindh is not closing down schools, offices because of Covid

    Factcheck: Sindh is not closing down schools, offices because of Covid

    A notification circulating all over social media stating that schools and offices are being closed until January 31 is fake. The notice was allegedly issued by the provincial government. However, the spokesperson of the Sindh government, Murtaza Wahab has denied that the provincial government issued any notification on the lockdown and closure of schools.

    Murtaza Wahab also said previously, in a high-level meeting, that the provincial government does not want to take strict action and requested people to follow precautionary measures to avoid the spread of the virus.

    The emergence of cases related to the omicron variant of coronavirus have exceeded 50 percent in the province, especially in Karachi.

    Meanwhile, the Sindh Minister for Health, Dr Azra Pechuho said on Thursday that the lockdown could be imposed after assessing the cases of omicron variant which is increasing steadily day by day.

    She also revealed that 500 cases have been reported during the last 24 hours which shows a widespread increase of the new strain of coronavirus.

  • New strain of Coronavirus detected in France, investigation underway

    New strain of Coronavirus detected in France, investigation underway

    French scientists have identified a new variant of coronavirus with 46 mutations, named IHU or variant B.1.640.2. It infected 12 people in Southeast France.

    According to the hospital, IHU Mediterranee in Marseille, the strain of coronavirus was detected in early December in a traveller who returned to France from the African country, Cameroon who reportedly infected 12 people. This new strain has more mutations than the omicron variant of coronavirus.

    The paper was published in a preprint server for Health Sciences, medRxiv, in which researchers found that “46 mutations” have not been spotted in any other countries nor recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

    The authors of the paper said, “subsequent detection … of three mutations in the spike gene to screen for variants … did not correspond to the pattern of the delta variant involved in almost all SARS-CoV-2 infections at that time.”

    It is not yet decided by scientists if the new strain is infectious as compared to the omicron variant though it has more mutation than omicron.

    An epidemiologist and fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, Feigl Ding said, “What makes a variant more well-known and dangerous is its ability to multiply because of the number of mutations it has in relation to the original virus.”

    He continued, “This is when it becomes a ‘variant of concern’ — like omicron, which is more contagious and more past immunity evasive. It remains to be seen in which category this new variant will fall.”

    Earlier, Israel detected the first case of Florana disease which is a double infection of covid and influenza on December 30, 2021.

  • Half of the covid cases in Sindh are of omicron variant: Sindh govt

    Half of the covid cases in Sindh are of omicron variant: Sindh govt

    The Sindh government has announced, in the meeting held on Monday, that the emergence cases related to the omicron variant of coronavirus have exceeded 50 percent in the province, especially in Karachi.

    A high-level meeting was held which was presided over by the Chief Minister of Sindh, Syed Murad Ali Shah to discuss the worsening situation of covid in the province which accelerated from the new variant, omicron. The brief was given by the Sindh Health Department to the Chief Minister regarding the alarming situation of the new wave of coronavirus.

    According to reports by provincial health officials, 351 samples were taken from positive covid patients for analysis, out of which 175 patients were found to be infected with the omicron variant.

    The meeting was attended by the concerned government officials including Dr Bari of Indus Hospital and Provincial Minister Health Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho.

    It was informed in the meeting that the number of covid cases has surged from the last 30 days. The new cases reported on December 3 were 261 and it exceeded 403 new cases of covid on January 2 this year.

    The Chief Minister claimed the situation is alarming and asked the health department to speed up the tests and initiate the vaccination drive on a large scale.

    Statistics were also shared in the meeting that during the last 30 days, the number of covid positive patients who died was 51. Out of 51 patients, 40 were on ventilators, six were on ventilators, five were at home.

    In the meeting, it was informed to the Chief Minister that until now, 29,579,471 vaccine doses had been administrated across Sindh province.

    The spokesperson for the Sindh government Barrister Murtaza Wahab said that the provincial government does not want to take strict action and requested people to follow precautionary measures to avoid the spread of the virus.

  • BTS member Suga recovers from covid-19

    BTS member Suga recovers from covid-19

    South Korean k-pop group, BTS member, Suga recovered from coronavirus and is released from quarantine.

    His management company, BigHit released the official statement regarding Suga recovery from covid-19

    “BTS member SUGA has made a full recovery from COVID-19, and his quarantine has concluded as of today (January 3) at noon.

    Suga, who had been receiving treatment from home for the past 10 days from Friday, December 24, is now able to return to his daily activities.

    Suga did not exhibit any particular symptoms during his quarantine and is currently recuperating while resting at home.

    We would like to thank all fans who have shown concern for the artist’s health as well as those in the medical field who are doing their best to overcome COVID-19.”

    Suga also shared his recovery news to the fan community platform, Weverse excitedly.

    He wrote, “Released from quarantine!” with the smile emoji to express his happiness.

    Suga has tested positive on December 24 for coronavirus after wrapping up his official vacation in the United States (US).

    BTS fandom, ARMY also reacted with happiness and encouraging messages on Twitter.

    https://twitter.com/megaminimoni_/status/1477838474019368968

    Meanwhile, BTS leader Rap Monster (RM) and member Jin are still in quarantine who were diagnosed with covid-19 on the Christmas holiday.

  • BTS leader RM and member Jin get Covid-19 after fellow member Suga

    A K-pop group, BTS leader RM and member Jin who is famous for his visuals also diagnosed with Coronavirus. Their fellow member Suga also tested positive for covid on Friday.

    The group took off from their activities and were spending the vacation in the United States (US). RM returned back home, South Korea on December 17 and initially got negative result before entering self-quarantine as per the official procedure. However, at the time of release from quarantine, the Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) result came out as positive. Currently, he is not having any symptoms.

    On the other side, Jin returned back on December 6 and tested negative both times but he has shown some symptoms of flu and took PCR which turned to be a positive this time. He has mild symptoms and currently taking treatment at home.

    The management of BTS, BigHit released an official statement regarding their health.

    “BTS members RM and Jin were diagnosed with COVID-19 on the evening of Saturday, December 25.“

    “After returning on Friday the 17th from the United States following his personal schedule as part of his official vacation period, RM immediately underwent PCR testing, was found negative and entered into self-quarantine in his home as mandated by COVID-19 control procedures. However, he underwent PCR testing today before his scheduled release from quarantine and was found to be positive for COVID-19; he is currently exhibiting no particular symptoms.“

    “Jin returned to Korea on Monday, December 6 and underwent PCR testing immediately after his return and again before his release from self-quarantine, and was found negative on both occasions. However, feeling flu-like symptoms this afternoon he underwent PCR testing and was found positive for COVID-19 late this evening. He is exhibiting mild symptoms including light fever, and is undergoing self-treatment at home.“

    “Our company will continue to provide support for the rapid recovery of RM and Jin, placing our highest priority on the health and safety of our artists. We will continue to cooperate fully with the requests and guidelines of healthcare authorities.

    Thank you.“

  • Moderna chief warns vaccines less effective against Omicron, doctor who discovered it says it is mild

    Moderna chief warns vaccines less effective against Omicron, doctor who discovered it says it is mild

    Moderna Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Stephane Bancel said that the existing vaccines might get failed to protect against a new variant of coronavirus, Omicron, reports DW

    Banel added that there are a large number of mutations in the latest variant that anti-bodies induced in vaccines may not resist.

    “There is no world, I think, where [the effectiveness] is the same level… we had with Delta,” she said, adding, “I think it’s going to be a material drop. I just don’t know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I’ve talked to… are like ‘this is not going to be good.” Banel told.

    The comments given by Banel raised the fears against the low-level resistance of existing antibodies in vaccines, which could lead to more sickness and hospitalisation.

    It will take days to several weeks to understand the severity of the Omicron variant however, Dr Angelique Coetzee, the South African doctor who first spotted the new Covid variant Omicron claimed that the mild symptoms were spotted in the patients so far, reports BBC

    The emergence of Omicron alarmed the whole world. It is drastically spreading in European countries and the first case was reported in India on Tuesday. Several countries already banned the flights from the countries where it first originated including Pakistan.

  • Pakistan’s bowling consultant Philander to leave amid Omicron fears

    Pakistan’s bowling consultant Philander to leave amid Omicron fears

    Pakistan cricket team’s bowling consultant, South African Vernon Philander is set to leave the Pakistan team midway through the on-going Test against Bangladesh after suspension of flight operations in South Africa amid the spread of new coronavirus variant, Omicron.

    According to reports, Philander will leave Bangladesh for South Africa between Monday and Tuesday night.

    It is pertinent to mention that the Pakistan team is currently playing a two-match Test series against Bangladesh and initially Vernon Philander was scheduled to leave Dhaka for Cape Town on December 1 after the first Test.

    However, due to the suspension of flight operations in South Africa amid the spread of the new variant, he will be separated from the Pakistani squad today.

    It may be recalled that in view of the spread of coronavirus variant, Omicron, Pakistan imposed travel bans on six African countries, including South Africa.

    The United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria and the European Union have also imposed travel bans on African countries over the threat of a new Corona variant.

    Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Liton Das digged in and helped the side to take the lead of 159 runs before lunch. Both teams are trying to win the first Test. Pakistan needs four wickets, while Bangladesh is trying to set a bigger total to defeat the visitors.