Tag: coronavirus

  • Risk of New Variant Omicron, Pakistan imposes travel ban

    Risk of New Variant Omicron, Pakistan imposes travel ban

    The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) has imposed a complete travel ban from red zone African countries and Hong Kong on Saturday evening after the emergence of a new Covid variant, Omicron.

    NCOC tweeted the notification in which six South African countries and Hong Kong are included in category C due to Omicron.

    A complete ban has been imposed on every direct and indirect flight with immediate effect.

    Earlier, the United Kingdom (UK) already imposed the travel ban from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, and Eswatini unless travellers are the UK or Irish nationals.

    Head of NCOC, Asad Umar took to Twitter to urge the people of Pakistan how important it is to get vaccinated.

     

  • PM Khan refers to the alleged audio leak of CJP Nisar as a ‘drama’

    PM Khan refers to the alleged audio leak of CJP Nisar as a ‘drama’

    Addressing the Kamyab Jawan Convention 2021 in Islamabad, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan termed the alleged leaked audio of the former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar as a “drama”.

    “You need to understand from where all this started. A country where the head, prime minister, and ministers start stealing and taking public funds abroad […] countries are not poor because of lack of resources, they become poor when government officials start stealing from the people. Such a country can never progress,” said PM Khan.

    “It is unfortunate that a man [Nawaz Sharif] who has been convicted by the Supreme Court and has absconded from the country addresses the event,” PM Khan

    Commenting on the Asma Jahangir Conference, PM Khan said, “There was a function in Lahore where the chief justice and Supreme Court judges are invited, and who addresses that event? A man [Nawaz Sharif] who has been convicted by the Supreme Court and who has absconded from the country. It is unfortunate.”

    He added that a nation was destroyed when it stopped considering looting money a bad thing.

    “When a nation’s morals die, that nation dies.”

    “No one can wipe out a nation if its morality is intact,” he remarked.

    “You may call the courts and army bad, I have already been dubbed badly. But you need to answer from where did you get the money to buy those apartments,” PM Imran Khan

    Commenting on the Panama Papers, the premier said that the investigation revealed that PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz owned four flats in London.

    “Where did this money [for the apartments] come from?”

    “You may call the courts bad, you may call the army bad and I have already been [dubbed] bad … But answer from where did you get the money to buy those apartments?”

    The prime minister went on to say that he had been dragged to the court over an apartment he owned in the United Kingdom.

    “[But] I submitted all the details [regarding the case] to the court,” he added, pointing out that he had bought the apartment when he was a cricketer and not a public office holder. “[Yet] I produced all the receipts, but they (PML-N leaders) lied in the National Assembly [regarding their assets].”

    “Not a single document [has been shared] that shows the means to buy the flats [owned by them],” he said.

    “Ever since we came into power three years ago, I am hearing that we will fail,” said the premier

    Addressing the audience, especially the youth, PM Khan said that people told him that in a two-party system, a third party could not form the government. “Ever since we came into power three years ago, I am hearing that we will fail.”

    “Everyone said it was impossible, but Allah made it possible,” he noted, adding that no person has ever become successful through shortcuts, as the secret to success was having a big vision and determination.

    The prime minister said the country was going through a tough time due to the coronavirus as businesses had halted and prices of commodities shot up.

    However, to alleviate the adverse effects of the pandemic, “the government, through Kamyab Pakistan, will provide interest-free loans to four million deserving households for building their own homes and teach them skills,” he said.

  • NCOC approves Chinese vaccine for children aged 12 and older

    The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) announced on Thursday that its committee of health experts has approved two Chinese vaccines to be administered to children aged 12 years and older from November 15.

    The Chinese vaccines approved by the committee are Sinopharm and Sinovac.

    “Chinese vaccines Sinopharm and Sinovac have been approved by NCOC Health Expert Committee for administration to children above 12 years of age from 15 November onwards,” NCOC tweeted.

    “Now, these vaccines will also be available in addition to already approved Pfizer for children above 12 yrs,” tweeted NCOC.

    Earlier, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar, who also heads NCOC, said more than 50 per cent of students between the ages of 12 and 18 have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine across the country.

  • Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel believes Covid-19 pandemic could be over next year

    Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel believes Covid-19 pandemic could be over next year

    Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel believes that the coronavirus pandemic could be over in a year as the production of vaccines rises up to meet global demand, Forbes reported Thursday citing an interview with Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung.

    Bancel said in the interview that increasing vaccine production will help ensure that enough doses are available to get the entire global population vaccinated by mid-2022.

    While responding to a question on when he thinks things could go back to normal, Bancel said: “In a year, I assume.”

    Read More: Nurse makes chandelier with empty Covid vaccine vials

    The pharmaceutical executive pointed out that even people who don’t want to get the vaccination may “immunise themselves naturally” by that time with the highly contagious delta variant spreading fast across the globe.

    “The people who get vaccinated will enjoy a good winter while those who don’t will live with the risk of getting sick or even being hospitalised due to the variant,” predicted Bancel.

    He said that he feels that people would need a booster shot soon and the company’s version will contain half the amount of the original formulation.

    He said that Moderna is also testing a “Delta-optimised variant” of the vaccine that will serve as the foundation for booster shots in 2022.

  • ‘Fake govt, fake vaccination certificates,’ Maryam Nawaz reacts to Nawaz Sharif’s ‘vaccination’ in Lahore

    “Just like this fake government, its vaccination record and entry data for vaccines is also fake,” said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz when asked about the issue of fake vaccination data for Nawaz Sharif uploaded by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) portal. Maryam said she is concerned that the wrong entry of vaccination data can be an international embarrassment for Pakistan.

    Maryam was talking to the media after she appeared before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a case against her conviction in Avenfield reference.

    Nawaz Sharif, who is currently in London for medical treatment, has received first dose of Sinovac vaccine in Lahore as per the data uploaded on NADRA portal. As per reports, this false information was entered using Nawaz Sharif’s CNIC at Government Kot Khawaja Saeed Hospital.

  • India world’s top source of misinformation on Covid-19: Study

    India world’s top source of misinformation on Covid-19: Study

    India disseminated the largest amount of Coronavirus misinformation on social media due to the country’s higher internet penetration rate, increasing social media usage and users’ lack of internet literacy, according to a new study.

    The study titled ‘Prevalence and Source Analysis of COVID-19 Misinformation in 138 Countries’ was published in Sage’s International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions journal.

    As per details, the study examined 9,657 pieces of misinformation made in 138 countries. They were fact-checked by 94 organisations to understand the prevalence and sources of misinformation in different countries.

    “Of all the countries, India (18.07 per cent) produced the largest amount of social media misinformation, perhaps thanks to the country’s higher internet penetration rate, increasing social media consumption and users’ lack of internet literacy,” the study stated.
    The results also showed that India (15.94 per cent), the US (9.74 per cent), Brazil (8.57 per cent) and Spain (8.03 per cent) are the four most misinformation-affected countries.

    Read More: Study reveals Pakistanis prayed for India during Covid-19 crisis

    Based on these results, the study stated that it is presumed that the prevalence of Covid-19 misinformation can have a positive association with the pandemic situation.

    “Social media (84.94 per cent) produces the largest amount of misinformation, and the internet (90.5 per cent) as a whole is responsible for most of the Covid-19 misinformation. Moreover, Facebook alone produces 66.87 per cent of the misinformation among all social media platforms,” it added.

    Earlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had also cautioned that false information on the virus is spreading and putting people in danger. WHO had advised people to make sure to double-check everything they hear with trusted sources before believing or sharing them with others.

  • Covid-19: Confused sense of smell lasts much longer than virus

    Covid-19: Confused sense of smell lasts much longer than virus

    A new study has found that many people who lose their sense of smell due to coronavirus ultimately regain it, but some survivors have faced smell distortions and unexplained smells, Reuters has reported.

    Researchers examined survey responses from 1,468 individuals who had been infected with Covid-19 between April and September 2020 and had suffered loss of smell and taste at the start of their illness. Early on, about 10 percent also reported smell distortions also known as parosmia, and unexplained smells, known as phantosmia.

    Read More: NCOC launches app to verify Covid-19 certificates

    At an average of six to seven months after the infection and first reporting loss of smell, roughly 60% of women and 48% of men had regained less than 80% of their pre-illness smell ability, and rates of smell distortions and imaginary smells had increased, the researchers reported on Tuesday on medRxiv.

    Roughly 47% reported parosmia, saying, for example, “some things now smell like chemicals.” About 25% reported phantosmia.

    “Sometimes I can smell burning but no one else around me can,” one respondent reported. Persistent smell problems were seen more often in survivors with more symptoms overall, “suggesting it may be a key marker of long-COVID,” the authors said.

  • Two-week lockdown likely to be imposed in Sindh

    Two-week lockdown likely to be imposed in Sindh

     A decision on whether a two-week lockdown will be imposed in Karachi or not will be taken today during the provincial task force on coronavirus meeting at the Cheif Minister (CM) House on Friday.

    The Sindh health department has recommended clamping a two-week complete lockdown to contain the spread of the pandemic in Karachi as the positivity rate has gone beyond an alarming 30 per cent in the megacity.

    Given the unsettling circumstances of the COVID-19 cases in Karachi, the task force has received a strong proposal to impose a complete lockdown in the metropolis.

    Medical experts and the health department suggested halting inter-city and intra-city commute for two weeks.

    It has been proposed that the educational institutes also remain closed for two weeks.

  • Delta variant dominant worldwide, deaths surge among unvaccinated people: Officials

    Delta variant dominant worldwide, deaths surge among unvaccinated people: Officials

    The Delta variant of Covid-19 is now the dominant strain worldwide, accompanied by a surge of deaths around the United States (US) almost entirely among unvaccinated people, US officials said on Friday.

    US cases of coronavirus are more than 70 per cent over the previous week and deaths are up 26 per cent, with outbreaks happening in parts of the country with low vaccination rates, US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said during a press briefing.

    “This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Walensky said, adding that 97 per cent of people entering hospitals in the US with Covid-19 are unvaccinated.

    The Delta variant, which is significantly more contagious than the original variant of the virus, has been reported around 100 countries globally and is now the dominant variant worldwide, top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said.

    Read More: Study reveals Pakistanis prayed for India during Covid-19 crisis

    “We are dealing with a formidable variant” of Covid-19, Fauci said.

    Walensky has urged the unvaccinated people to get Covid-19 shots and said Pfizer Inc’s and Moderna Inc’s vaccines have proven to be especially effective against the Delta variant.

    She said people should get the second dose of the vaccine even if they have passed the recommended window of time for receiving it.

  • Asad Umar says unvaccinated people are seven times more likely to get Covid

    Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Friday said unvaccinated people were seven times more likely to contract the coronavirus than those inoculated.

    After the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) meeting, the minister said vaccination was the only way solution to the virus.

    Umar later took to Twitter and said, “The data analytics run by the NCOC team shows that comparative data of Pakistani’s who have been vaccinated versus those who are not vaccinated shows a marked difference in risk. The unvaccinated Pakistani’s are at 7 times higher risk of getting covid. Please get vaccinated.”

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan said every day around 2,500 new cases were being reported, warning that the Delta variant was spreading fast.