Tag: covid 19

  • Jennifer Aniston reveals she ended ties with unvaccinated friends, colleagues

    Jennifer Aniston, during a recent interview with InStyle, revealed she had to cut ties with a few people in her life over their vaccination status.

    “I’ve just lost a few people in my weekly routine who have refused or did not disclose [whether or not they had been vaccinated],” she said, “and it was unfortunate.”

    The Friends star added, “I feel it’s your moral and professional obligation to inform, since we’re not all podded up and being tested every single day.”

    The Morning Show diva said “it’s a real shame” that “there’s still a large group of people who are anti-vaxxers or just don’t listen to the facts.”

    In 2020, the veteran actor encouraged fans to follow the Covid’19 SOPs through an Instagram.

  • Public sector and military hospitals should be open to general public: Justice Qazi Faez Isa

    Public sector and military hospitals should be open to general public: Justice Qazi Faez Isa

    Supreme Court judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa has suggested that public sector and military hospitals should be open to the general public, reported Dawn.

    Justice Isa had recently contracted Covid-19 despite being vaccinated. His statement comes in relevance to the grave situation with the surging cases of Covid-19 in Pakistan.

    In a statement, Justice Isa said: “Since we are in a situation no less grave than a war, all public sector hospitals, including combined military hospitals and other armed forces hospitals, should be opened immediately to serve the people.”

    “Otherwise, class and social divides will further be exacerbated and people continue to suffer and die because of an unequal system,” said Justice Isa.

     “My wife and I were one of the initial lucky few in the country who were fully vaccinated as both of us were above 60; courtesy of the Chinese government. We took every precaution, including always wearing masks in public places, yet contracted the highly infectious Delta variant of the disease,” read the statement.

    “Even with the vaccination, I still had to be hospitalised. I am receiving excellent treatment from very competent doctors and attendants at the Quaid-i-Azam International Hospital. Such treatment is not within the reach of most [people],” added Justice Isa.

  • Covid-19: New lockdown restrictions in Islamabad

    Amid the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in the country, new lockdown orders have been announced for Islamabad. As per the notification, the following restrictions have been imposed:

    • Cinemas closed
    • Shrines closed
    • Transport 50%
    • Offices 50%
    • Saturday and Sunday full lockdown
    • All indoor functions/weddings banned
    • Time for markets 8pm
    • Contact sports , pools, parks closed
    • Masks compulsory
    • Gyms allowed for vaccinated individuals only

    The new Covid-19 restrictions were imposed on August 3 and will remain in place till August 31.

    As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan has recorded 4,722 new cases of Covid-19 with the positivity rate of 8.22 per cent.

  • Pakistan hits one million Covid-19 vaccination doses per day: Asad Umar

    Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar announced on Tuesday that Pakistan had hit the target of administering one million Covid-19 vaccination doses in a day.

    The minister took to Twitter and said, “Happy to report that the target we had set for 1 million vaccinations in a day was crossed yesterday with 10 lakh 72 thousand vaccinations.”

    “All federating entities contributed with Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and Islamabad all doing record numbers. Amazing performance by all involved,” tweeted Umar.

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan also confirmed the milestone and congratulated “all who have made this happen”.

    According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), a total of 31,929,581 doses of Covid vaccines had been administered across Pakistan as of Monday, with 1,072,342 doses administered on August 2.

  • Sindh to go into complete lockdown from tomorrow

    The Sindh government has decided to impose lockdown in the province till August 8, starting from tomorrow. The decision was taken during a provincial coronavirus task force meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Friday.

    The decision to impose the lockdown has been taken to curb the recent surge of Covid-19 cases in the province. During the meeting of Provincial Corona Task Force, Sindh Health Secretary Dr Kazim Jato said that the positivity rate in Karachi during the last 24 hours was 23 per cent, 14.52 per cent in Hyderabad and 2.9 per cent in Sukkur.

    The following decisions were taken in the meeting today:

    • Vaccination cards of citizens roaming the streets will be checked.
    • All markets will remain closed during the lockdown.
    • All government offices will be closed from next week.
    • Pharmacies will remain open.
    • Unvaccinated government t employees will not get salaries after August 31.

    However, businesses associated with the export sector will be allowed to operate.

    As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan has recorded 4,537 new cases of Covid-19 with the positivity rate of 7.79 per cent.

  • Covid positivity rate jumps to 7.5 per cent in Pakistan

    Covid positivity rate jumps to 7.5 per cent in Pakistan

    The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) reported that the Covid-19 positivity rate is currently 7.51 per cent.

    President Dr Arif Alvi urged citizens to “get serious”. “Cases have shot up post-Eid. I was expecting and warning about it as I saw carelessness in [the] streets, bazaars, [and at] weddings and mosques,” he said.

    President Alvi urged Pakistanis to get vaccinated. “Don’t let the recent gains towards stability [be] sacrificed on the alter of neglect. You are a rising nation, so the important test is to rise to the occasion,” he added.

    The number of deaths from coronavirus in the country has risen to 23,048 after 32 more people died in the last 24 hours and the total number of cases has reached 108,446.

  • Australian man escapes quarantine using bedsheets

    Australian man escapes quarantine using bedsheets

    A man in Perth, Australia, escaped mandatory quarantine in a hotel room by using a rope made of tied together bedsheets from a fourth-floor window, reports Reuters.

    He arrived in Perth from Brisbane but was told to leave the state within 48 hours, failing to get a mandatory pass before travel, and was sent to a hotel. However, he fled in the middle of the night but was caught and charged with failure to comply with a direction and providing false information.

    Last week, the Western Australia Police Force shared images on their official Facebook account, showing his escape strategy, and informed that he was arrested later and tested Covid-19 negative.

    As per reports, Travis Jay Myles appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court via an audio link. The report added that he did not apply for bail and will remain in custody until early August when his 14-day quarantine period ends.

    G2G passes registration and declaration prior to entry is mandatory for all travelers in Western Australia. The process will declare where the individual has been in the 14 days before their entry and whether they have any Covid symptoms or not.

    More than half of Australia is in lockdown and restrictions have been imposed to stop the spread of the Delta variant.

    Moreover, the vaccination process is quite slow as only 11 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated. The main cause of this is that Australians under 60 are advised to get the Pfizer vaccine, but supplies are very limited.

  • Pakistan has the lowest number of Covid deaths per million: Asad Umar

    Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said that Pakistan has the lowest number of Covid deaths per million in the region.

    “Covid deaths/million population in our region: Iran 1037, Nepal 326, India 301, Sri Lanka 186, Afghanistan 160, Bangladesh 113, Pakistan 102,” said Asad Umar in a tweet.

    “Timely decisions, hard work, cooperation of people & blessings of Allah made this possible,” he added.

    Asad Umar also urged people to take precautionary measures. “Risk is not over. Follow sop’s & vaccinate.”

    As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan has recorded 1,841 new cases of Covid-19 with the positivity rate of 4.89 per cent.

  • Here’s everything you need to know about the Delta variant

    At least 40 cases of the Delta variant — a highly virulent Covid-19 strain — have been recorded in the country in the last few days. Heath experts also suspect the presence of the Delta variant in Lahore.

    With increasing number of cases of this deadly variant, here is everything you need to know about the Delta variant.

    What is the Delta variant?

    The Delta variant, also known as B.1.617.2, can spread more easily, according to Web MD. The strain has mutations on the spike protein that make it easier for it to infect human cells, which means people may be more contagious if they contract the virus and spread it more easily to others.

    Why should we be worried?

    As per the New York Times, Delta variant is believed to be the most transmissible variant yet, and it can cause more severe illness. One study found that people infected by the Delta variant were roughly twice as likely to be hospitalised as those infected with the Alpha Variant.

    Does vaccines work against Delta variant?

    Data suggests that several widely used shots — including those made by Pfizer, BioNtech, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson and AstraZenca — appear to retain most of their effectiveness against Delta.

    How does the Delta Variant spread more rapidly inside the body?

    A recent study explains why the Delta variant grows more rapidly in the body. Delta variant grows more rapidly inside people’s respiratory tracts and to much higher levels, researchers at the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

    On average, people infected with the delta variant had about 1,000 times more copies of the virus in their respiratory tracts than those infected with the original strain of the coronavirus, the study reported.

    After someone catches the Delta variant, the person likely becomes infectious sooner. On average, it took about four days for the Delta variant to reach detectable levels inside a person, compared to six days for the original coronavirus variant.

    In the past 24 hours, Pakistan has recorded 2,327 cases of Covid-19 with a positivity rate of 6.1 per cent.

  • More than half a million vaccine doses administered for first time on July 12, says Asad Umar

    Asad Umar in a tweet has said that 525,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine were administered yesterday.

    “For the first time we crossed half a million doses of vaccination yesterday. 5 lakh 25 thousand doses were administered yesterday,” Asad Umar tweeted.

    “Highest ever first dose was also achieved yesterday with 3 lakh 90 thousand first doses administered. The pace will increase further inshallah,” he added.

    As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan recorded 1,590 cases of Covid-19 yesterday with the positivity rate  of 3.63 per cent.