Tag: COVID-19 pandemic

  • England tour of South Africa cancelled after coronavirus outbreak

    The ODI series between England and South Africa has been officially called off after issues around Covid-19 became too big to overcome.

    Official confirmation of the abandonment on medical grounds came today (Monday) after a series of postponements and cancellations over the last three days.

    A joint statement released by Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board stated the decision was taken by the two boards “to ensure the mental and physical health and welfare of players from both teams.” Both boards will work together to reschedule the series, which is part of the ICC Cricket Men’s Super League.

    England will return home without having played any of-the-three scheduled one-day internationals. The decision to call off the tour followed apparent breaches of the bio-secure environment at the hotel in Cape Town where both teams are staying.

    A South African player tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday. Two hotel staff members then tested positive before two members of the England touring party returned what were described as “unconfirmed positive tests” on Sunday.

    The series was to have started in Cape Town on Friday but that match was cancelled an hour before the players were to take to the field after the South African player’s positive test. That match was re-scheduled and moved to Paarl on Sunday, but that match was cancelled following the positive results in the England camp.

    The teams played three Twenty20 internationals without any problems before the Covid-19 outbreak.

    “CSA and the ECB will now work together to determine when the three-match series, which forms part of the ICC Cricket Men’s Super League, can take place in the future,” CSA tweeted.

    CSA Acting CEO, Kugandrie Govender said: “The concern over the mental health impact of recent events on all involved is not one that we as CSA or the ECB take lightly and the decision to postpone the tour is the most responsible and reasonable course of action for us.”

  • Couple marries in PPE kit after bride tests positive for COVID-19

    Couple marries in PPE kit after bride tests positive for COVID-19

    A couple from Rajasthan, India got married in personal protective equipment (PPE) after the bride tested positive for COVID-19.

    Indian media reported that a couple exchanged their wedding clothes for PPE kit and venue for a coronavirus treatment centre over a wedding hall.

    Wearing garlands around their neck, the bride and groom got married in the presence of a priest and three others. All the guests present at the ceremony also wore PPE. The ceremony soon went viral on social media.

  • World can start dreaming of pandemic’s end, says UN health chief

    World can start dreaming of pandemic’s end, says UN health chief

    The UN health chief on Friday said that positive results from COVID-19 vaccine trials mean the world “can begin to dream about the end of the pandemic,” but he said rich and powerful nations must not ignore the poor and marginalized “in the stampede for vaccines.”

    In an address to the UN general assembly’s session on the pandemic, World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned that while the virus can be stopped, “the path ahead remains deceitful.”

    The pandemic has shown humanity at “its best and worst,” he said, pointing to “inspiring acts of compassion and self-sacrifice, breathtaking feats of science and innovation, and heartwarming demonstrations of solidarity, but also disturbing signs of self-interest, blame-shifting and divisions.”

    Referring to the current increase in infections and deaths, Tedros, without naming any countries, said that “where science is drowned out by conspiracy theories, where solidarity is undermined by division, where sacrifice is substituted with self-interest, the virus thrives, the virus spreads.”

    In his virtual address, he warned that a vaccine “will not address the vulnerabilities that lie at its root” — poverty, hunger, inequality and climate change, which he said must be tackled once the pandemic ends.

    “We cannot and we must not go back to the same exploitative patterns of production and consumption, the same disregard for the planet that sustains all life, the same cycle of panic and meddling and the same divisive politics that fuelled this pandemic,” he said.

    On vaccines, Tedros said, “the light at the end of the tunnel is growing steadily brighter,” but vaccines “must be shared equally as global public goods, not as private commodities that widen inequalities and become yet another reason some people are left behind.”

    Earlier, WHO warned people ‘vaccines do not equal zero Covid’ and asked governments and citizens not to drop their guard over the pandemic and urged people to follow all the virus SOPs.

  • Islamabad bans indoor dining in hotels, restaurants

    Islamabad bans indoor dining in hotels, restaurants

    The Capital Administration has imposed a ban on indoor dining in restaurants and hotels on Tuesday after a surge in COVID-19 cases.

    Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Mohammad Hamza Shafqaat said the order was issued in pursuant to decisions of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and under the Epidemic Diseases Act. He added that restaurants and hotels will be allowed to serve food in an outdoor setup and takeaway.

    The deputy commissioner said all assistant commissioners and subdivisional magistrates would remain in the field to ensure the ban is implemented.

    The city recorded six more deaths and 283 positive cases in the last 24 hours.

  • Eighth Pakistan player in New Zealand tests positive for corona

    Eighth Pakistan player in New Zealand tests positive for corona

    An eighth member of Pakistan’s cricket squad has tested positive for coronavirus as the team undergoes quarantine in Christchurch, New Zealand health authorities said Wednesday.

    The health department said there was one new confirmed case among the squad and a further two members were being investigated, adding to the seven who previously tested positive over the past week.

    The department said the team would not be allowed to train together until doctors were confident it would not lead to more coronavirus cases.

    Director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield issued the team with a “final warning” last week for flouting social distancing protocols at their hotel.

    No further breaches have been reported since.

    Two of the original six cases last week were subsequently found to be historical, meaning they were not infectious, while the other four were active. A seventh member of the squad tested positive on Saturday.

    The 53-member tour party, led by skipper Babar Azam, arrived in Christchurch on November 24 for two weeks of quarantine which is mandatory for all overseas arrivals in New Zealand.

    All tested negative before leaving Lahore for the five-match tour, which is scheduled to begin with a Twenty20 international in Auckland on December 18.

    New Zealand has largely eradicated community transmission of coronavirus recording just 1,704 cases and 25 deaths in a population of five million.

  • COVID-19: WHO recommends adults to workout for 150 minutes per week

    All adults should do a minimum of 150 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week, even more, for well-being and mental health in the COVID-19 era, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

    WHO also recommended that children and adolescents have an average of one hour of daily physical exercise and limit time in front of electronic screens.

    People of all ages must compensate for growing sedentary behaviour with physical activity to ward off disease and add years to their lives, it added.

    “Increasing physical activity not only helps prevent and manage heart disease, type-2 diabetes and cancer, it also reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety, reduces cognitive decline including Alzheimer’s and improves memory,” Ruediger Krech, WHO director for health promotion said.

    Yet one in four adults and a “staggering” four out of five adolescents do not get enough physical activity, which can include walking, cycling, gardening and cleaning, the WHO said.

    “These guidelines emphasise what many are experiencing during the COVID restrictions that are applied all over the world. And that is that being active every day is good not only our bodies but also our mental health,” said Fiona Bull, head of WHO’s physical activity unit.

    “Phone a friend and do classes online together, help your family members, do it as a family. And when you can, get outside,” she said.

    Read more – Workout at home with Katrina Kaif’s routine

    Research into the ill-effects of sedentary behaviour has grown in the past decade, leading to the new advice, Bull said.

    “That is limit sedentary time, and do more activity to offset sedentary time, particularly for those who do long hours of sedentary, which includes a lot of people who have got office-based work environments,” she said. “For children we also recommend they limit sedentary time, particularly screen time.”

    Pregnant women and postpartum mothers are now included in the recommendations of 150 to 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity per week for adults.

    This brings health benefits for both the mother and baby, according to Juana Willumsen, a WHO technical officer.

    “For example there is a 30% reduction in gestational diabetes amongst women who are physically active during pregnancy,” she said.

    Adults above 65 are advised to add muscle strengthening and activities focusing on balance and coordination to help prevent falls later.

    Devices worn on the wrist or hip that track physical activity are helpful for all, Bull said.

    “Monitoring how active you are is very good feedback,” she said. “That is important because we tend to think we might be more active. We tend to underestimate how much time we spend sedentary.”

  • Five areas in Peshawar under smart lockdown

    Five areas in Peshawar under smart lockdown

    Five areas in Peshawar are under smart lockdown, according to a notification issued by the Peshawar Deputy Commissioner.

    According to a notification, the areas are:

    • Streets 7-11, Sector E-VI, Phase VII, Hayatabad
    • Streets 1, 1-A and 2, Sector N-IV, Phase IV, Hayatabad
    • University Town area, bound by Circular Lane, Park Road and Old Jamrud Road
    • Hayatabad Industrial Estate, bound by Industrial Estate Road, Wazirdund Canal, National Highway 5, Polyfine Chemfarma Road
    • Peshawar Cantt area, bound by Gulberg Road, Stadium Road and Qayyum Sports Complex

    Lockdown in these areas will be executed from 6 pm today and will remain in place until further notice. During the lockdown, all gatherings will be banned and all shops except those of essential services will remain closed. Congregations in mosques will also be restricted to five people only.

    Pakistan has reported 400,482 coronavirus cases so far. The virus cases emerged during the last 24 hours are 2,458.

  • ‘Behave yourself’: Shoaib Akhtar slams NZ Cricket over tour threat

    ‘Behave yourself’: Shoaib Akhtar slams NZ Cricket over tour threat

    Pakistan cricket legend Shoaib Akhtar has hit out at New Zealand Cricket (NZC) for threatening to cancel Pakistan’s tour after six Pakistani players tested positive for COVID-19 at their managed isolation facility in Christchurch.

    Akhtar warned NZC to “behave” themselves for threatening to cancel the tour, accusing the New Zealand governing body of “treating the Pakistan team like a club team”.

    “New Zealand’s comment that if Pakistan team’s SOPs (standard operating procedures) are not in place then they will cancel the tour, is below the belt,” Akhtar said in a video on his YouTube channel.

    “I want to give a message to NZC that this is not a club team, it’s Pakistan national cricket team,” said the former cricketer. “We don’t need you. Our cricket has not finished.”

    Akhtar went on to say, “You will get money for broadcasting rights. So, you should be indebted to us that we decided to tour your country in such difficult times.”

    “You are talking about Pakistan — the greatest country on the planet — so behave yourself and stop giving such statements. Be careful next time. Pakistan team now needs to smash them in T20 series.”

    “The PCB should show some toughness,” he remarked.

    Akhtar also said, “If I was in their place, I would have given a statement saying that if NZC isn’t happy, we won’t play them and will bring our team back and we won’t play against you for five years.”

    Earlier, NZC was appraised that some members of the Pakistan team had violated protocols on the first day of managed isolation. The entire team was given a “final warning” by the government for breaching rules.

    New Zealand’s Ministry of Health stated that several team members had been seen on CCTV at the facility breaching managed isolation rules despite “clear, consistent and detailed communication of expected behaviors while in the facility”.

    In a statement, the ministry said that the team as a whole has been issued a final warning.

    The health ministry shared that the 53 members of the squad arrived in Christchurch on November 24 and were tested on day one, with the six cases coming as a result of the tests.

    All cases were being moved to quarantine rooms within the facility. Members of the team will be tested a minimum of four times while in managed isolation, the health ministry informed.

    While Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not officially confirmed the names, journalists have shared their pictures which include former captain Sarfraz Ahmed, Abid Ali, Mohammad Abbas, Rohail Nazir, Danish Aziz and Naseem Shah.

    According to reports, the players are unhappy in quarantine, especially after the positive cases and the isolation feels like a prison sentence for them.

    Players weren’t able to condole with middle-order batsman Khushdil Shah, whose father passed away recently. The process was carried out through phone calls, instead.

    Pakistan is set to face the Black Caps in three T20 internationals and two tests, with the first match on December 18.

  • Meals banned during domestic flight operations as COVID-19 cases increase

    Meals banned during domestic flight operations as COVID-19 cases increase

    The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Thursday announced that passengers travelling on domestic flights will no longer be served meals in view of the rising COVID-19 cases. As per details, the new COVID-19 SOPs were issued by the NCOC in wake of surging cases of the infection.

    “No meals to be served during all sorts of domestic flight operations. Compulsory wearing of masks by all passengers and the flight crew through the flight,” read the notification by the CAA.

    The rules have been introduced for domestic flights, chartered flights and private aircraft flights.

  • Dollar down by Rs1.77 in two days, Rs159.28 is the new rate

    Dollar down by Rs1.77 in two days, Rs159.28 is the new rate

    Continuing with the previous day’s momentum, Pakistani Rupee gained another 81 paisas against the United States Dollar (USD) in the interbank on Wednesday.

    According to a State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) tweet, USD opened at Rs160.09 and closed at Rs159.28. The local currency had gained Re0.96 against the greenback on Tuesday.

    Money dealers in the market attributed this rally of rupee against USD to encouraging economic indicators as well as the global downfall of the greenback. On the other side, they added, importers are being careful in buying goods from their foreign suppliers owing to the second wave of COVID-19.

    On Tuesday, rupee had weakened against USD. The buying rate of USD was Rs160.4 while it was sold at Rs161.2 at the opening of trading in Pakistan’s currency market on November 24.

    Other currency rates had then been recorded as follows:

    Currency Buying Selling
    Australian Dollar 116 118 
    Canadian Dollar 121 123
    China Yuan 24.45  24.6 
    Euro 188.5 192 
    Japanese Yen 1.55 1.58
    Saudi Riyal 43 43.5 
    UAE Dirham 43.55 44 
    UK Pound Sterling 212.5  215.5