Tag: coronavirus

  • “I’m choking, please give me treatment” – Barkha Dutt’s father’s last words

    “I’m choking, please give me treatment” – Barkha Dutt’s father’s last words

    Senior Indian journalist Barkha Dutt shared the pain of losing her father to COVID-19. In an emotional note on Twitter, Barkha Dutt expressed her grief of how she failed in bringing her ailing father back home safe.  

    She also acknowledged the hospital staff and everyone who tried their best to help her family in this situation. The last words of her late father rang loudly in her mind, “I’m choking, please give me treatment”

    The day her father SP Dutt, was hospitalised, both Barkha and Bahar ( sister of Barkha Dutt ) narrated the difficulties they faced, right from getting an ambulance to oxygen supply issues.

    The day she cremated her father, she said in an interview that urgent help must be sent to India for the sake of the world. She also added, “It is a calamity and a crisis of the kind that I have not seen in my adult life.”

    The second wave in India has firmly gripped the country. Thousands of families have lost their loved ones due to Covid-19. The hospitals are overwhelmed and there are no beds for patients. Shortage of oxygen has killed far more people than the virus alone.

    ” I am an upper middle class Indian. I had access to a hospital, “she said in an interview, “most people I am reporting on are dying at the gates of the hospital.”

    Actors Farhan Akhtar and Abhishek Bachchan and others tweeted their condolences.

  • COVID likely to stay, will only get worse, warn experts

    COVID likely to stay, will only get worse, warn experts

    The novel coronavirus is morphing into a tougher variant over time, experts have warned. According to them, the mutations identified in the virus are worrisome, and as per the finds of the scientists, the virus will get more contagious and threatening.

    Experts are hesitant about making any predictions about when the pandemic will end and most scientists have accepted the truth that the virus will likely stay forever.

    There are some majors reasons why the virus will stay and not go anywhere. First, there are already four human coronaviruses endemic in our population. It means that they will circulate perpetually.

    “It’s safe to say we’re not going to eradicate it,” said Dr Becky Smith, an infectious disease specialist at Duke Health. “Too many people in the world have it. It’s too efficient at transmitting.”

    Secondly, the virus is zoonotic; it can jump from animal to humans or vice versa. Moreover, the SARS-CoV-2 has also emerged. So, even if we manage to eradicate SARS-CoV-2; the human and animals would likely produce a deadlier variant.

    Scientists have also predicted that the SARS-CoV-2 would turn into endemic; the intensity will reduce to the only flue and common cold. It’s a sign of hope, but it would likely happen over a period of five to ten years.

    Vaccination will not be available to everyone said Mike Osterholm, a leading infectious disease expert, adding it would be nearly impossible to make a yearly coronavirus vaccine available to every person on Earth.

    “It is going to be with us forever,” said Osterholm, who directs of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said of the virus. “It is something we can’t eradicate from humans.”

    As far as the new variants are concerned, the new South African (carrying B.1.351) virus shows resistance to Moderna’s vaccine. The new variant carries ten mutations in the virus’ spike protein, and it has forced vaccine makers to change their strategies. The P.1 variant of Brazil also have the same potency.

    Earlier, companies that produced Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and Novavax have also raised concerns that vaccines won’t work well against B.1.351 or other variants with similar mutations.

    It is also possible that more powerful variants could drown out old versions of the virus, making the pandemic harder to combat. Virus experts in the US are already predicting that the fast-spreading B.1.1.7 variant, first discovered in the UK, will become the dominant variant in America by this May.

    But it’s impossible to predict what changes the virus might undergo next, or what they’ll mean for us because not all mutations make viruses more dangerous.

  • Pak Army to help implement coronavirus SOPs, announces PM Imran

    Pak Army to help implement coronavirus SOPs, announces PM Imran

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday announced that there will not not be a complete lockdown but in order to control the situation, people must follow SOPs. PM appealed to the nation that if they follow SOPs and wear masks regularly, Pakistan will not have to take any strict measures. PM said that despite suggestions of lockdowns in cities, he has not taken this decision as it affects the poor the most. “Be careful yourself. Otherwise we will have no other option.”

    PM said that the Pakistan Army will assist the police in imposing SOPs.

    Key decisions taken by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC):

    1. Schools in districts with positivity rates above 5% closed until Eid
    2. Markets to close at 6pm. Only shops selling essential goods to operate after 6pm
    3. Outdoor and indoor dining banned during Ramzan
    4. Indoor gyms to be closed
    5. Offices to close at 2pm daily with 50% capacity. Rest of the staff to work from home

  • Third COVID-19 wave: 135 deaths in a day set new record for Pakistan in 2021

    Third COVID-19 wave: 135 deaths in a day set new record for Pakistan in 2021

    Pakistan reported its highest number of coronavirus-related deaths so far this year on Wednesday, amid third wave of the pandemic that is putting the country’s health service under extreme strain.

    The government portal keeping track of the outbreak in the country registered 135 deaths in the last 24 hours — up from 118 a day earlier and the highest number of fatalities since June 20 — taking the total number of deaths on the measure to 15,754.

    According to the Ministry of National Health Services (MoNHS) data, 48,092 tests were conducted on Tuesday after which 4,681 people tested positive for the contagion disease. The total number of cases in the country is 734,423.

    Punjab recorded the most deaths during the last 24 hours at 79 followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with 49.

    Sindh has been the worst-hit with 269,840 cases followed by Punjab where 255,571 people have been tested positive, the statement said.

    Moreover, over 80% ventilators are occupied across the country with around 700 out of total 5,000+ patients in critical care.

    Meanwhile, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has issued revised guidelines for the second COVID-19-hit Ramzan to tackle the spread of the virus.

  • Iffat Omar promises to get 10 people vaccinated

    Iffat Omar promises to get 10 people vaccinated

    Iffat Omar has promised to get 10 people vaccinated after jumping queue to get vaccinated herself at Federal Minister for Housing and Works Tariq Bashir Cheema’s residence in Lahore. The model-turned-actor also admitted her fault and apologised for her actions after receiving a barrage of criticism and backlash.

    Responding to a social media user, Omar said that not only will she forgo the second dose, but she will also get 10 people vaccinated.

    When the user told her why he was angry over her actions, Omar said: “I regret and [am] really ashamed but I will fix it.”

    “Please accept my forgiveness,” she added.

    The model further made her intentions clear by responding to other users and asserting that she will get 10 deserving people vaccinated against the virus.

    Omar had come in the line of fire after a video of hers receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at Cheema’s residence went viral on social media with netizens accusing her of jumping the queue to get vaccinated when more deserving citizens still have to wait. At the time, only those aged 60 and above could avail the free vaccine under the government drive, while those aged 50 could get registered for a shot and there was no commercially available vaccine against the coronavirus in Pakistan.

    The minister had initially denied accusations of jumping queue and claimed that a team from the University of Health Sciences (UHS) had arrived at his residence to administer a ‘booster shot’ of a ‘trial vaccine’.

    The minister said the same team had earlier administered the first dose of the trial vaccine to his family at their residence.

    Meanwhile, Omar at that time had told people to “take it easy”.

    In a now-deleted tweet, the model had said that she received a booster shot of the Chinese vaccine CanSino. However, Pakistani Twitterati had called her out on the claim, pointing out that CanSino was a single-dose vaccine and does not require a booster shot.

  • ‘Increase the price or it’s going somewhere else’ threatens vaccine importer

    ‘Increase the price or it’s going somewhere else’ threatens vaccine importer

    Rs 8,449 not enough for the vaccine, says the importer of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and is threatening to “re-export” the 50,000 doses it brought to Pakistan. Officials say that the importer is saying that they can send the vaccine to ‘another country’ if the importer’s desired price is not set by the government.

    “The drug pricing committee of DRAP (Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan had recommended Rs8,449 for two doses of the vaccine, which is not acceptable to the importer,” an anonymous official of the federal government told news network, Geo News .

    RELATED: Fake COVID-19 reports, vaccines being sold on darkweb

    “The government is already under harsh criticism for the price recommended by DRAP’s pricing committee at Rs8,449. It was calculated on the basis of a landing cost of $30 but people are comparing it with the cost of the Russian vaccine in India and criticising the government for fixing higher price as compared to the neighbouring country,” the official stated.

    A representative of AGP Limited, the importer of the vaccine, said that they had the “option of re-exporting” the vaccine shipment or selling it to another country where they can get a much higher price.

    RELATED: ‘Govt does not plan to buy vaccines anytime soon’

    “The government’s price of Rs8,449 is not affordable for us because in addition to landing cost, there is distributor margin, storage and transportation costs, and hospitals and institutions will also take their service charges,” an official of the company clarified, also adding that if the didn’t send the vaccine back, there were ‘other options’ available too.

    “We are going to wait for a couple of days to resolve this issue but it is already over a week now and the shipment is [stored needlessly] at the cold storage. It could have been used by now to vaccinate at least 25,000 people who could afford to get it, as for millions, government’s vaccine is not available,” the official said to Geo News.

    Government officials had earlier said that AGP wants a retail price between Rs. 12,500-13,000 for two doses of their vaccine based on their expenses for procuring and delivering the vaccine but DRAP is unwilling to review its decision, since they say the recommended price of Rs. 8449 is fair.

  • PM Imran Khan tests positive for COVID-19

    PM Imran Khan tests positive for COVID-19

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has tested positive for COVID-19.

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr Faisal Sultan announced the news and said that the premier is self-isolating at home.

    Later, senior PTI leader Senator Faisal Javed Khan said that PM Khan is “experiencing mild symptoms” and “will continue to work from home over video calls”.

    PM Khan had received the first dose of his COVID-19 vaccine on March 18. Interacting with the media after receiving his shot, PM had urged everyone to get vaccinated for the virus. It is pertinent to add here that PM Imran is yet to receive the second dose of the vaccine, which will be administered to him after a month.

    The Ministry of National Health Services also clarified that PM Khan was “not fully vaccinated when he contracted the virus”.

    “He only got the first dose and merely two days ago which is too soon for any vaccine to become effective,” asserted the minister, adding: “Anti-bodies develop 2-3 weeks after the second dose of COVID vaccines.”

    Meanwhile, several PTI leaders including Sheikh Rasheed, Usman Buzdar and Hammad Azhar have wished the premier a swift recovery.

    Pakistan has reported 3,876 cases over the past 24 hours — the highest since July 2020.

    Wishing PM Imran Khan a swift recovery.

  • Asad Umar warns stricter lockdowns if SOPs not followed

    Minister for Planning and Development and National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) chairperson Asad Umar has said the country has witnessed a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, warning that if the standard operation procedures (SOPs) are not followed, the government will be forced to take stricter measures.

    “Sharp spike in COVID positivity,” wrote Umar in a tweet. “Hospital daily admissions and people in critical care rising fast.”

    “If SOP compliance does not improve, we will be forced to place stronger restrictions on activities,” warned the minister, adding: “The new strain spreads faster and is more deadly.”

    The NCOC also warned the same in a statment.

    “The NCOC was apprised on implementation of various health guidelines as already issued to all federating units. NCOC was apprised that implementation on those guidelines needs comprehensive review. NCOC showed serious concern on rising disease trend and mortality rate,” read the statement.

    “The forum was briefed that a sharply rising trend in disease is visible and positivity has crossed 7.5 percent. Almost all major cities have crossed 5% positivity,” it said further. “Provincial administrations have been asked to take immediate actions for strict implementation of SOPs.”

    The NCOC added that “serious concern was shown on general disregard of SOPs by masses. Mass violations of SOPs and disrespect of orders including not wearing of mask, disregard of social distancing are widely reported.”

    It appealed to the citizens “to display good example of social behavior and follow the SOPs in letter and spirit, otherwise, strict measures will have to be taken which may result into closure of business and restrictions on economic and social activities.”

    The NCOC further said that COVID vaccination centers across the country will remain closed on Sundays and national holidays.

    Read more – COVID-19: Here’s what you can and cannot do amid lockdown in Punjab

    Later, Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar also urged businesses and corporations to strictly implement COVID protocols to avoid inconvenience.

    According to the latest statistics, Pakistan has reported a total of 3,495 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. This is the highest number of daily cases recorded since 3,795 cases on December 6, 2020.

    A total of 61 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the national positivity rate has risen to 7.8 per cent as the country battles a third wave of the pandemic.

    Meanwhile, Umar on Wednesday also announced that over 41 thousand people were vaccinated the previous day marking the highest daily vaccination rate. Vaccinations for those aged 60 and above commenced on March 10.

  • COVID-19: Sindh re-imposes smart lockdown

    COVID-19: Sindh re-imposes smart lockdown

    Amid rising COVID-19 cases, the Sindh government has re-imposed restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. The government has imposed smart lockdown across the province until April 15 to fight against the third wave

    According to a notification issued by the department:

    • All businesses e.g. markets, shopping malls, marriage halls etc. will operate from 6am to 10pm (except essential services i.e. medical stores, clinics, hospitals, petrol pumps, bakeries, milk shops, restaurants etc)
    • Amusement parks to close by 6pm
    • 50% staff in all public/private sector offices will be allowed
    • No indoor marriages will be allowed. As per earlier decisions only outdoor events/marriages will be allowed with a maximum limit of 300 persons till 10pm under defined SOPs.
    • No indoor dining will be allowed at restaurants.
    • All indoor gathering places, gyms, indoor sports facilities, cinemas and theaters, shrines to close.
    • Outdoor gatherings will be allowed only in open spaces with a maximum limit of 300 individuals.

    The province has reported 261,411 cases so far. However, 232 cases have been reported in the last 24 hours.

  • PSL and PCB’s buffoonery

    PSL and PCB’s buffoonery

    The coronavirus pandemic has turned all the world’s industries upside down and sports has been no exception.

    The resumption of sporting events after the outbreak of the pandemic has been nothing short of a blessing for the fans as well as the players but its success was contingent upon whether the players would comply with the COVID protocols or not. There can be no denying that staying inside the bubble, not interacting with outsiders and playing in empty or half-empty stadiums would take a physical and psychological toll on them but it was expected of them to be acutely aware of their responsibilities and not to contravene the rules. However, the reality was different as the matter was handled carelessly and scores of players flouted the restrictions. The same was the case in PSL 2021, as a consequence of which, it has screeched to an indefinite halt.

    The guidelines explicitly mentioned that anyone who attends the game would be required to wear a face mask throughout the duration of the game and observe social distancing. However, as the screengrab from one of the matches below shows, the implementation of these rules was nowhere to be seen.

    Even worse, celebrities and social media influencers like Shahveer Jafry and Dananeer Mobeen were seen interacting with the players and team owners making an absolute mockery of the health protocols. None of the breaches mentioned thereof went unpunished thereby setting a wrong precedent.

    Following the news of Australian leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed testing positive for the virus, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should have been more cautious and stringent with restrictions but instead, Multan Sultans bowling coach Azhar Mahmood was allowed to throw a birthday party that was also attended by a number of players. This surge in the virus cases, due in large part to management’s carelessness (six players and one member from the team officials tested positive), behooved the PCB to postpone the league who had no option but to swallow the bitter truth that they have been incompetent in ensuring that the tournament is smooth sailing.

    The blame-shifting game instantly began, media outlets started peddling hyperbolic and even false reports and overseas players (on the condition of anonymity) averred that the bio-secure bubble was not well-maintained. PSL is in its boom years and is improving over time but untoward incidents like these will blemish its image.

    Responding to the backlash in his presser, PCB’s Chief Executive Wasim Khan admitted that they weren’t equal to the task.

    “It was a great disappointment for us that we found ourselves in a situation where neither us nor others are able to provide what we need to provide and that is the full protection for players,” Wasim said.

    “This is a collective effort that we all had a responsibility to actually police and self-police that environment. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do it effectively enough. Hence, we find ourselves in this situation today,” he added.

    As in, the uppermost task on PCB’s plate now is to find a window in a jam-packed schedule in which it can hold the remaining games of the league. Pakistan is set to play South Africa in April followed by a tour of Zimbabwe but reports suggest that Pakistan will push these tours to accommodate the remaining matches of the league.

    I’m no epidemiologist thus it would be naïve to comment on the spread of the virus and measures to mitigate the virus but it is not rocket science to understand that carelessness over a deadly contagious pandemic is downright buffoonery. There’s no point in crying over spilt milk but whenever the PSL resumes, PCB should ensure that it learns from its mistakes and the remaining tournament goes without any chaos untoward incident.