Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed has criticised the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led federal government for its inability to contain the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — at the border, leading to an outbreak in the country.
The total number of COVID-19 cases stands at 296 in the country with 208 cases in Sindh while Punjab has 28, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 19, Balochistan has 23, Islamabad two, Gilgit-Baltistan 14 and one in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, two patients were confirmed to have died in KP on Wednesday, making them the first cases of death due to the deadly virus in Pakistan.
The CJP was referring to the pilgrim influx from Iran through the Taftan border. Almost half of the Zaireen, who are kept at a largely mismanaged tent city at the border, have tested positive for the virus.
“The coronavirus came from abroad through the airports due to PIA and the government’s incompetence,” remarked CJP. He noted that the coronavirus is now being talked about everywhere in the country.
“If security remains like this, then I do not know what kind of new diseases will be introduced to the country [in the future],” remarked the CJP.
The top judge was also irked by the National Security Committee’s (NSC) request to adjourn civil cases and instruct magistrates and sessions judges to conduct hearings at prisons for three weeks.
He observed that the authorities had not made arrangements to minimise the risk instead asked the judges to suspend judicial work.
The CJP made the remarks while hearing a plea filed by Air Marshal Arshad Malik seeking a stay against the Sindh High Court’s December 2019, order restraining him from working as the chief executive officer of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
The SC allowed Malik to continue performing his duties as the head of the national carrier.
During the hearing, the CJP asked the government to explain a single good thing that happened in the national airline.
“PIA is playing with the lives of the people,” CJP Ahmed complained.
However, Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Jawed defended Malik and described him as a competent person. He added that, God-willing, Malik would take the PIA forward. However, the CJP interjected and told the government lawyer that work cannot be done by merely uttering “By the grace of God”, “God-willing” and “Thanks be to God”.
Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan also criticised the government, saying that the court knows that a lot of lobbies were working against the airline.
“There are lobbies inside PIA who do not want it to work,” remarked the judge. He also suggested that the air marshal implement those decisions which a political government cannot.
“If actions had already been taken, the airline would not have been in its present state,” Justice Ahsan said.
To this, the AGP replied that if Arshad Malik is allowed to work as the CEO, he will take all those actions. He added that whenever the court will say that Malik has to go, he will go.
On March 16, Brooklyn-based author Isaac Fitzgerald tweeted a question to his followers on Twitter asking them to share the object in their home that holds the most significance.
Fitzgerald has been in self-quarantine as a precaution due to recent travel.
He asked Twitter: “What’s the object in your home that means the most to you?” He posted a picture of the sword hanging above his desk, which he says was given to him by the King of Bhutan.
I’ll go first. This is a (small) sword given to me by the King of Bhutan over a decade ago. pic.twitter.com/q8O75PRtG9
The responses he got were quite interesting. Hundreds of responses poured in: a teacup that belonged to someone’s grandmother. A portrait of a woman’s mother, painted by her 16-year-old son. A World War II lighter that belonged to the grandfather one man had never met.
Framed menu my grandmother grabbed from one of her earliest dates with my grandfather, at The Paramount. 60 odd years later I ended up working across the street, sheer coincidence, as we were not New Yorkers! Love the prices and (now) classic cocktails—only 83 cents, ha. pic.twitter.com/ehDSNHXO5j
This pic that we had digitized of my family from 1940 in Hempstead Co, Arkansas. My grandmother (her sibs), my great-gf (his sibs), and my great-great-gm are all in the pic. My great-aunt lived to be 104! Love this pic b/c it reminds me of who I come from ❤️cc: @Gabriellegancepic.twitter.com/OOL27K2vK1
Fitzgerald says that in a time of social distancing, social media has allowed a new level of sharing stories and memories with each other. “Hopefully some folks took a little comfort in realising the simple fact that their homes are filled with beloved objects,” he said.
Former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep has said she has decided to donate medical equipment in Romania as her native country deals with the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are so grateful for the bravery of our medical workers at these difficult times. I am committed to helping my country and have decided to donate medical equipment,” Halep said in a tweet. “This is the perfect opportunity to show that we know how to be supportive and responsible with our lives and those around us,” Halep told fans in a video message posted on her official Facebook page.
“While we are at home, doctors and medical personnel make huge efforts to treat and save each life by exposing themselves for the general good…decided to donate a sum of money for the purchase of the necessary equipment and materials in such situations, the amount that will be directed immediately to the medical authorities in Bucharest and Constanta,” she added.
“I encourage everyone who can to contribute to the joint efforts to combat this virus. In the meantime, let us all take care of ourselves, be responsible and stay positive!”
We are so grateful for the bravery of our medical workers at these difficult times. I am committed to helping my country and have decided to donate medical equipment.
Simina Halep is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019. In total, she has been No. 1 for 64 weeks, which ranks tenth in the history of the Women’s Tennis Association rankings. Halep was the year-end No. 1 in 2017 and 2018.
Over 200 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in Romania so far.
A woman in the US accidentally washed her hands with a block of cheese for days after mistakenly thinking it was a bar of soap.
Miley from Vancouver, Washington, became confused after realising her soap wasn’t foaming as usual, before she discovered it was in fact a lump of cheddar. She was trying to do her bit to stop the spread of coronavirus by thoroughly washing her hands with a bar of soap.
Unfortunately, she instead succeeded in spreading some rather mature looking cheddar on her hands over the course of several days.
Sharing her sorry tale on Reddit, Miley explained how the cheese ended up being mistaken for a bit of soap after it was left out of the fridge following a drunken late-night snack.
Waking the next morning, she assumed that the lump was the remnants of a bar of soap. She also was keen to stress that she does actually keep a bar of yellow, unscented soap nearby for such use with the two evidently getting mixed up.
“Just realised my soap wasn’t working because it’s literally a block of cheese,” she wrote.
“I use a liquid soap for the dishes, bar soap like this is gentler on my hands after I do chores if that makes any sense [sic].”
“It was a couple days of ‘Why isn’t this foaming?!’
“I come to realise it was a dried-out square of Tillamook sharp cheddar cheese. I suspect I left it out when I was intoxicated and just forgot.”
The third and final installment of the Fifty Shades film trilogy 50 Shades Freed is trending at number one on Netflix Pakistan as citizens of the country practise social distancing and self-isolation amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
As of late, Netflix has started sharing a list of ‘Top 10’ movies or seasons which are trending in different countries. According to a blog post from the company, the Top 10 row will be updated every day with “the most popular titles within a subscriber’s country, and the position of the row will also change depending on how relevant the shows and movies in the list are to their interests.”
Subscribers can also get an even better sense of what’s trending by clicking on the individual movies and TV shows tabs to get top 10 lists for each respective category.
Fifty Shades Freed is a 2018 American erotic romantic drama film based on E. L. James’s 2012 novel of the same name. It is the third and final installment in the Fifty Shades film trilogy, following Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) and Fifty Shades Darker (2017). The film stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan as Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, respectively, and follows the couple as they marry, and deal with Ana’s former boss, who begins to stalk them.
With the spread of coronavirus creating panic among the people are causing anxiety, Mahira Khan, took to social media to calm her followers are remind them that “we’re all in this together.”
She also urged her followers to protect themselves and others.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B94GvEzBbef/
Earlier, the actor had urged her followers to practise self-isolation as much as possible.
Reminder- please practise social isolation as much as possible. This is important. You can save the virus from spreading and save lives. And wash your hands Hoping and praying for the world to get better, inshAllah. #CoronavirusOutbreak#coronavirusinpakistan
Coronavirus has killed more than 8,000 people globally. What is more dangerous is the huge flow of non-scientific information coming from every corner of the world on how the disease can be cured.
So far, scientists are experimenting with new methods to find the cure. However, they have not achieved this milestone yet.
Amid this panic, it is being believed that the disease is lethal for people who have crossed the age of 40. However, Zhang Guangfen, a 103-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan, has recovered from this disease and came back home just after spending six days in the hospital, Daily Watch Chutian reported.
She was diagnosed at Liyuan Hospital, Tongji Media College, in Wuhan on the 1st of March.
As the global pandemic of the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — continues to spread in Pakistan with nearly 250 infections, the Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar-led Punjab government appears to be lagging behind other provincial administrations such as that of Sindh where a spike in coronavirus cases has led to strict measures being put in place to contain the disease.
SOCIAL INTERACTION:
As per the details, Punjab has woken up late to the grave challenge of coronavirus, a proof of which is it appearing scrambled to find ways to deal with the crisis while struggling to enforce its own imposition of Section 144 to discourage public gathering as chaos and panic mar daily routine.
While 10,000 people reside at the Tableegi Markaz in Raiwind, another mosque, Masjid Ibrahim, is ramping up preparations to hold a big gathering to mark ‘Shabe Jumma‘. These centres are sending off at least a dozen parties to 150-200 mosques in the city for preaching purposes, whereas almost 1,000 parties [jamaats] are going across Pakistan for the same.
The activities are nothing but a recipe for disaster as they can lead to a countrywide spread of the virus. But Raiwind Assistant Commissioner (AC) Adnan Rasheed says the ijtima [gathering] won’t lead to an increase in the coronavirus cases as the authorities have washed and chlorinated the area where the gathering is being held.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Afzal Danish, on the other hand, says the Raiwind gathering is in violation of the law and such transgression would be dealt with. “All gatherings have been banned. There is no decision on Friday prayers as of yet because we need the sanction of religious authorities,” he said, adding any other activity inside or outside any mosque would be a violation.
But that’s not it.
While according to the DC, shelter homes — another place with maximum social interaction — have been told to serve food to groups of two or three at a time in addition to bedding made at a distance of three feet, The Current has learnt that none of the shelter homes in Lahore are observing the measures as almost 4,484 people are living together and hundreds gather there to eat on a daily basis.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS:
Meanwhile, schools and universities are also flouting the government’s ban. The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and various private schools remain open for faculty in complete disregard of the measures taken by the government.
To prevent children and students from getting infected by the coronavirus pandemic, the government of Punjab had last week ordered all educational institutes, including private ones, throughout the province to remain closed till April 5 at least.
LAHORE: People pray outside the Sacred Heart Cathedral as it was closed after Pakistan shut all its schools and discouraged large gatherings amid coronavirus fears. (Reuters)
The instructions had come keeping in view the situation of the pandemic as the government had also imposed an emergency in the province. Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid had said that the Punjab CM reviewed the situation emerging out of an increasing number of positive coronavirus cases in the region and the status of preparedness at health facilities in the province.
ECONOMICS:
According to reports, the Punjab government is also grappling with the shortage of hand sanitisers while face masks are being sold at exorbitant rates. “Most of the stores do not have face masks and hand sanitisers, and if they have, they are selling these items at a 300 per cent surge rate,” read a report submitted to CM Buzdar.
With the courts being petitioned to take notice in this regard, Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Mamoon Rashid Sheikh has summoned the federal and provincial authorities concerned to explain their position. In an earlier hearing, Punjab healthcare officials had told the court that the government imposed a ban on hoarding and profiteering of surgical masks in wake of their demands following the coronavirus pandemic.
It said FIRs [Firs Information Reports] were being registered against the hoarders and profiteers under Price Control and Prevention of Profiteering and Hoarding Act of 1977 among other laws. However, shopkeepers, amid the unavailability of these commodities, are blaming wholesalers.
DOCTORS AT RISK:
Separately, young doctors have also gone on a strike over the shortage of safety kits.
Young Doctors’ Association (YDA) has demanded safety kits for the entire staff of hospitals dealing with the suspected corona patients, including doctors, nurses and paramedics, while terming the arrangements made by the government as insufficient.
The YDA office bearers said that the safety kits provided to the doctors in hospitals are not according to the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO) and that they were working under highly vulnerable circumstances. “The N95 masks are not available in the hospitals despite the fact that the staff treating corona patients used the same mask in all the hospitals across the globe,” the doctors said.
LAHORE: A view of scanning and checking of body temperature of passengers arriving from different cities in the provincial capital of Punjab.(Online)
While following a meeting with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, YDA has announced calling off its strike in public sector hospitals, they have warned taking to streets once again if their demands are not met at the earliest. Sarwar has reportedly taken notice and ordered the vice chancellor of the University of Health Sciences to provide safety kits to the doctors within 24 hours.
WHAT THE GOVT IS DOING:
It has been reported that the government is going to purchase 200 ventilators and expand isolation wards in Mayo and Services hospitals. The Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute and Research Center (PKLI&RC), on the other hand, has been dedicated to coronavirus treatment while a separate 70-bed block is being established.
Punjab government would also purchase 300 screening kits. Further, the government will provide coronavirus kits at subsidised rates to private hospitals and laboratories.
A hostel of the University of Engineering Technology (UET) has been converted into a 400-bed hospital for coronavirus patients, while the campuses of UET and GCU in Kala Shah Kaku are where suspected patients will be kept.
A government spokesperson told The Current that while CM Buzdar is engaging senior journalists and religious leaders to help the government in spreading coronavirus awareness, the government itself is also doing its best to deal with the crisis.
LAHORE: A family wears face masks to help prevent exposure to the new coronavirus as they travel on a motorbike. (AP)
The spokesperson shared that the government had 40 high dependency units (isolation wards) in major government hospitals across Punjab, one government testing facility in Lahore and Rawalpindi each and a private testing facility of Shaukat Khanum helping them for free. They also shared details of the quarantine facilities the government has ready for patients and said that protective suits were provided to all healthcare professionals working in isolation wards.
“The CM himself is at the forefront, and in this regard, will today (Wednesday) chair an apex committee meeting, visit the quarantine facilities established in Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan besides holding a media briefing to clarify the situation for people,” the spokesperson added.
To a question, they said the government was deliberating certain other steps too, but couldn’t do much without the masses’ help.
An Indian Army soldier, posted in the mountainous region of Ladakh, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, The Economic Times reported on Wednesday.
According to reports, the soldier’s father had returned from Iran on February 27. At the time, the soldier was on leave. He rejoined his post on March 2.
After returning to Ladakh, his father was quarantined at a local hospital where he tested positive for COVID-19 on March 6. A day later, the soldier was quarantined. On Monday, he also tested positive for the virus.
During his quarantine period, the soldier was staying in his native village and helping his family. His sister, wife and two children have also been placed in quarantine.
The soldier and all his colleagues were placed in isolation after the former tested positive.
Earlier on Wednesday, another army official attached to the College of Military Engineering in Pune has been asked to self-quarantine after he showed symptoms of flu.
As of now, 147 people have tested positive in India.
To contain the spread of the coronavirus, India’s Health Ministry has announced a temporary travel ban from the European Union (EU), United Kingdom (UK) and Turkey.
With cases of coronavirus close to 250 in Pakistan, celebrities, politicians and health experts are requesting everyone to do their bit in ensuring that the virus does not spread. One of the most challenging tasks is making people understand the importance of social distancing considering that the virus is highly contagious. With workplaces are shutting down and companies switching to work from home, daily wage earners in the country are expected to be hit the hardest as their services will no longer be required.
Mansha Pasha, in a recent tweet, urged her followers to do their bit and help out those most affected by the setback.
wage earners around u. Please pay ur house help their wages even if they arent coming in. Educate the ppl around on how to wash their hands, give them a santizer to use a few times a day. Do ur bit since some are depending on ur help to get thru this #CoronavirusOutbreak (2/2)
Those asking how they can contribute – pls take the initiative and make a group consisting of friends, family, community members . Create ur own ration packs and donate to The Orange Tree Foundation and Robin Hood Army. Pakistan@robinhoodarmy.com info@orangetreefoundation
Earlier, Mahira Khan had also requested her followers to practise social distancing.
Reminder- please practise social isolation as much as possible. This is important. You can save the virus from spreading and save lives. And wash your hands Hoping and praying for the world to get better, inshAllah. #CoronavirusOutbreak#coronavirusinpakistan
