The new coronavirus may never go away and populations around the world will have to learn to live with it, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.
As some countries around the world begin gradually easing lockdown restrictions imposed in a bid to stop the novel coronavirus from spreading, the WHO said it may never be wiped out entirely, AFP reported.
The virus first emerged in Wuhan in China late last year and has since infected more than 4.2 million people and killed nearly 300,000 worldwide.
“We have a new virus entering the human population for the first time and therefore it is very hard to predict when we will prevail over it,” said Michael Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies director.
“This virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities and this virus may never go away,” he told a virtual press conference in Geneva. “HIV has not gone away — but we have come to terms with the virus.”
More than half of humanity has been put under some form of lockdown since the coronavirus crisis began.
But the WHO warned there was no way to guarantee that easing the restrictions would not trigger a second wave of infections. “Many countries would like to get out of the different measures,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“But our recommendation is still the alert at any country should be at the highest level possible.”
‘LONG WAY TO GO’:
Ryan added that there was a “long, long way to go” on the path to returning to normal, insisting that countries would have to stay the course.
“There is some magical thinking going on that lockdowns work perfectly and that unlocking lockdowns will go great. Both are fraught with dangers,” the Irish epidemiologist said.
Ryan also condemned attacks on healthcare workers that were linked to the pandemic, saying more than 35 “quite serious” such incidents were recorded in April alone in 11 countries.
He said the attacks were often over-reactions from ill-informed communities — while others were more sinister.
“Covid-19 is bringing out the best in us, but it’s also bringing out some of the worst,” he said. “People feel empowered to take out their frustrations on individuals who are purely trying to help.
“These are senseless acts of violence and discrimination that must be resisted.”
But he insisted that in finding a way to conquer the virus was a chance for humanity to take major steps forward by finding a vaccine and making it widely accessible.
“It’s a massive opportunity for the world,” Ryan said.
Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar has given his permission for coronavirus patients with mild symptoms to quarantine themselves at home rather than being admitted to a government facility.
According to a notification issued by the Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, the Punjab chief minister, on the directions of corona expert advisory group and technical working group, has advised for following standard operating procedures (SOPs), devised by the International Health Organisation (IHO) for home isolation.
He said that the patient would be kept in isolation under the supervision of the district health authority concerned in his or her house where all necessary facilities were available.
He said that such hotels, school buildings, mosques, hostels and community centres could also be used for isolation where all necessary facilities were provided by the government which would also take the responsibility to disinfect the buildings on a daily basis.
“However, buildings, where cooling and heating systems can cause the spread of the virus, cannot be used for isolation,” he made it clear.
Buzdar said that solid waste of patients would be disposed of according to the given guidelines.
The CM said that food would be provided to the patient in only disposable packs. He said that decision of home isolation of any patient would be made by home isolation committee, formed by the assistant commissioner of the area and assistant commissioner or his representative, DDO Health and chief officer of the area concerned would be members of the committee.
“Population Welfare, Livestock, Excise and Taxation staff would monitor and report about the isolation committee and three isolation committees would be formed in one union council in which at least one doctor would also be a member of the committee, whereas one committee would be constituted in a rural union council with one doctor in it,” the CM said.
The chief minister said that the committee would also review space for keeping patients in home isolation according to the number of family members whereas the family would be informed about the SOPs before allowing any patient home isolation.
“The patient would be bound to inform the authorities about his condition on a daily basis and testing protocol would be mandatory for the patient,” he said.
The chief minister said that the period of home isolation would be for 10 days and for removal of home isolation conditions, the patient had to show at least two negative corona tests and after the termination of home isolation, another test would be conducted after five days.
In case of non-availability of the test, the patient would have to stay in quarantine for more than two weeks.
Almost all 371 members of the Punjab Assembly are at risk of contracting the deadly coronavirus as the speaker of the provincial house and senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML), Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, continues to chair assembly sessions despite coming into contact with Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.
CORONAVIRUS PATIENT:
As per the details, Mazari tested positive for the novel virus days after he returned from Dubai by a special Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight along with his two cousins just over a week ago. After landing at the Multan airport, they reportedly left for Lahore without being quarantined there.
“As their departure was against the official Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in wake of COVID-19 outbreak, Mazari had told a joint team of the district administration and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) that they would isolate themselves,” sources told The Current, adding that the deputy speaker, however, continued with his routine in Lahore and came into contact with dozens of people, including Elahi, his son Moonis Elahi, as well as property tycoons Syed Rehan Gilani and Syed Salman Gilani.
While Mazari claims he is following all SOPs and has stayed in self-isolation since after returning from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) despite his first test coming out negative, the above picture from days leading to the deputy speaker’s second test that came out positive, as well as an album shared to his social media account on May 4, suggests otherwise.
“He interacted with several people, including his friends, colleagues and Punjab Assembly staffers, until his second test confirmed that he had contracted the virus. All those people he met must have come into contact with hundreds of others,” sources said.
Speaking to The Current, Mazari confirmed all developments while clarifying his position. “I landed in Multan where I was received by the district administration. I told them how I had to rush to Lahore for a very important official meeting and was allowed to do so.”
He said he coordinated with the officials concerned in Lahore and quarantined himself along with his cousins at a local hotel as per government SOPs. “I stayed there until I took the test that came out negative. I shared my reports with the hotel management and government officials concerned, who allowed me to leave.”
“I was congratulated by Pervaiz Elahi Sahib and others over my reports and told to resume discharging my duties… and so I did,” the deputy speaker said, confirming that he went on to attend the meetings this scribe highlighted.
When asked why did he not follow government instructions as per which any international passenger who tests negative “will be advised compulsory self-isolation to complete a 14-day period”, Mazari said he did what he was told to and wasn’t aware of “any changes to the SOPs that have now been made”.
“It wasn’t until the first week of May that I tested positive, which was seven or eight days after my return to the country. Since then, I am in complete isolation and am doing fine.”
He went on to say that he had informed the Punjab Assembly speaker of his infection and advised him to get tested. “I think Chaudhry Sahib has also taken the test. He, undoubtedly, won’t take it lightly and ensure all precautionary measures.”
Mazari also announced that once he has recovered, he will be donating blood plasma to help critical patients fight the virus. “We must take care of ourselves and others. That’s the only way to defeat coronavirus,” he said.
MPAs AT RISK:
While Moonis Elahi is now in Gujrat, his father, who also met Mazari last week, is going on to chair the sessions of the Punjab Assembly for the past four days.
When contacted, Pervaiz Elahi’s close aide, who is also a member of the speaker’s personal staff, Chaudhry Iqbal, confirmed that the speaker had not isolated himself.
To a question, he said that Elahi had come into contact with Mazari but neither had he gone into self-quarantine nor was he planning to do so. “He is chairing a 150-member session of the Punjab Assembly right now.”
It may be noted that as per the SOPs for holding assembly sessions amid the COVID-19 outbreak, only 100 out of 371 MPAs are being allowed to attend the session each day so as to ensure social distancing inside the house where, so far, at least three staffers have tested positive for the virus.
The ratio of 52 and 48 has been set which means that only 52 MPAs from the government and 48 MPAs from the opposition benches can attend the proceedings.
The entry of guests and staff of MPAs is also completely banned while only the minister concerned will answer the questions of lawmakers during the question-hour.
The assembly secretariat has also installed a disinfection tunnel at the entry gate while lawmakers will use masks and gloves to protect themselves from the virus. Only those MPAs will be asked to attend the proceeding who have their questions on the agenda item.
Major Muhammad Asghar “laid his life in the line of duty at Torkham border” after losing the battle against coronavirus, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reported Sunday.
“Major Muhammad Asghar laid his life in the line of duty at #Torkham border in fight against #COVID-19. Evacuated to CMH Peshawar with breathing problems, was put on ventilator but succumbed to Corona Virus. There is no cause bigger than serving the Nation,” the media’s military wing tweeted.
Major Muhammad Asghar laid his life in the line of duty at #Torkham border in fight against #COVID-19. Evacuated to CMH Peshawar with breathing problems, was put on ventilator but succumbed to Corona Virus. There is no cause bigger than serving the Nation.#OurMartyrsOurHeroespic.twitter.com/3mtCKyRycq
Pakistan climbed to the 20th spot on the global coronavirus ranking on Sunday after the nationwide tally of COVID-19 patients crossed 30,000 after Sindh reported 709 new cases.
Asghar is the first security official to have lost his life in the war against the pandemic in Pakistan.
By the time this report was filed, the country had reported 30,446 COVID-19 cases with 662 fatalities.
More than 30,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in Pakistan with over 600 deaths. The government has opted for a “smart lockdown” as both the number of cases and fatalities continue to increase on a daily basis, but nationwide lockdowns are also being eased with each passing day.
Some government officials allude to the theory of herd immunity while others say that since the mortality rate of coronavirus is low in Pakistan, we must reopen the economy as the country cannot survive without it. We are left to our own devices now. You can choose to stay at home and in isolation if your work allows you to do it. Otherwise, go out but take precautions and hope that you don’t get coronavirus.
We understand that the decision must not have been easy for the government but are we really preferring death over struggle?
The world is also facing the brunt of easing lockdowns: South Korea warned of a ‘second wave’ of the coronavirus as infections rebounded to a one-month high on Sunday while coronavirus infections are rising in Germany days after the country eased its lockdown restrictions. These were two countries that had actually flattened the curve and had controlled the coronavirus cases to quite an extent.
Imagine if the said countries — with the capacity of aggressive testing and better healthcare facilities — are struggling once again due to the second wave of the virus, what can happen in the near future in Pakistan — a country where a proper lockdown was hardly imposed for two weeks. Where the prime minister was against locking down from day one and where the ‘elite’ were blamed by the premier for somehow enforcing lockdown. Where the lockdown restrictions were eased but it led to everyone thinking that things were back to normal.
Punjab is now allowing gyms, hair salons and barbershops to reopen again. If the administrations could not ensure that proper SOPs were followed in mosques during Ramzan, how will the local administrations ensure the same at barbershops or gyms or salons? While KP and Balochistan seem to be taking the pandemic lightly, hard-hit Sindh is also mulling opening markets.
We talk of a ‘smart lockdown’ but we are not too smart, are we? People follow rules when they are enforced and properly implemented. They follow government instructions when the government is not giving out mixed messages or confusing messages. First, we tell them that only old people die of coronavirus, then we tell them that coronavirus doesn’t kill too many people and then we say well, even if it kills people, we must not give up hope and we need to go back to work because… economy.
A day after the government announced to repatriate students from the Chinese city of Wuhan, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez on Saturday confirmed that a special flight of the national flag carrier will bring back stranded nationals on May 18.
According to Hafeez, some 250 students will be brought back on the first flight which will land in Islamabad.
The schedule for three more flights will be announced next week, he added.
The announcement was originally made by Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistani Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari on Twitter. “I’m very happy for the 1st flight going to Wuhan to bring back our Pakistani students on 18/05/2020,” he wrote.
I’m very happy for the 1st flight going to Wuhan to bring back our Pakistani students on 18/05/2020. You guys have been the bravest soldiers, PM @ImranKhanPTI & Pakistan are proud of you.
A British-Pakistani man woke up from a 25-day coma to discover that his mother had passed away from COVID-19.
According to a report in Geo News, Sohail Anjum went into a coma for almost a month after contracting a severe form of the deadly virus. He was admitted to the Croydon University Hospital in London. When he regained consciousness, he was told that his mother, 81, had passed away a few days after he was admitted to the hospital.
Hospital staff lauds Sohail as he leaves the hospital
Speaking to the publication, Anjum shared that he was in an induced coma when his mother passed away. He said that his brother was allowed to meet their mother under “exceptional circumstances” as the hospital had been put under lockdown and no visitation was allowed.
He said that his mother asked his brother about him [Sohail] and told him that she was praying for his health.
“I was told that while I was in a coma, it was only when she passed away that my vitals started improving. I believe it was my mother’s prayer before she passed away that saved my life,” said Anjum, who has now returned home after spending six weeks in the hospital. He shared that though he has recovered, he still feels weak and will be requiring physiotherapy to get back on his feet again.
“It’s been an emotional homecoming. I guess I’m not used to not seeing mum around anymore,” said Anjum, in another interview. “She would be the first person I would see whenever I came home and she was constantly checking up on me as mothers do.”
While Anjum is not exactly clear how he contracted the virus, he shares that he regularly travelled on London’s public transport network and could have contracted it from there. He developed symptoms around the second week of March and remained in self-isolation at home. The doctors told him to have paracetamol but when his health worsened and he started having difficulties in breathing, he was taken to the hospital where the doctors put him to an induced sleep. Anjum remained on a ventilator for over three weeks and was then placed under sedation. He woke up after a week. Doctors didn’t tell him his mother passed away to save him from trauma.
However, Anjum said that when he woke up, he was almost certain that his mum had passed away.
“I had a suspicion she had died. It may sound strange, but it came to me in a vision,” he said, adding “We never even got to say goodbye.”
Anjum’s mother had started showing symptoms a few days after he was admitted. She was taken to the same hospital, where she passed away a few days later.
Anjum, who is an entertainment executive, has worked with prominent Bollywood and Pakistani celebrities as a photographer. His case garnered a lot of media attention and well-wishes poured in for him from all over the world.
Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Pakistan Androulla Kaminara has called on Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and announced that the EU had allocated 153 million euros to support Pakistan in its war against the new coronavirus — COVID-19.
She briefed the premier on measures by the EU to strengthen Pakistan’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, over which PM Imran expressed satisfaction on the growing momentum in Pakistan-EU bilateral relations.
Further steps to deepen the Pakistan-EU partnership in all its dimensions were also discussed during the meeting.
This is not the first relief effort aimed at supporting cash-stripped Pakistan as it fights the global pandemic.
Earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had announced to provide around $1.4 billion to help the country address the economic fallout of the coronavirus outbreak.
“IMF Executive Board approves a US$1.386 billion disbursement to Pakistan to address the COVID-19 pandemic,” the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had said in a statement last month.
The announcement had come after the global lender said the disbursement under its Rapid Financing Instrument would enable Pakistan “to meet the urgent balance of payment needs stemming from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
“The outbreak of COVID-19 is having a significant impact on the Pakistani economy. The domestic containment measures, coupled with the global downturn, are severely affecting growth and straining external financing. This has created an urgent balance of payments need,” said Geoffrey Okamoto, acting chair of the IMF Executive Board, in a statement.
“In this context of heightened uncertainty, IMF emergency financing under the Rapid Financing Instrument provides strong support to the authorities’ emergency policy response, preserving fiscal space for essential health spending, shoring up confidence, and catalysing additional donor support.”
He also acknowledged the country’s “swift action” to curb the spread of the virus and other measures to support citizens.
The total number of infections in Pakistan, by the time this report was filed, stood at 24,954 with 593 deaths.
A report prepared by the sub-committee of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) for coronavirus has said that the country, due to an adverse impact of COVID-19 on the economy, will record a loss of over Rs628 billion by the end of the current financial year.
The report ‘COVID-19: Preliminary Macroeconomic and Socioeconomic Assessment’ said almost all the departments of the country were going in a loss due to lack of human activity in the wake of the pandemic that has killed over 200,000 people worldwide.
Giving a breakdown of the losses, the report said the Aviation Division will face an estimated financial loss of Rs13.6bn; the Pakistan Stock Exchange Rs250bn; Petroleum Division Rs 87bn; Ministry of Energy (Power Division) Rs136bn; Pakistan Railways over Rs7 bn; National Food Security Rs 55bn; Overseas Pakistanis over Rs 76bn; Ministry of Information Technology Rs1-5bn under the head of withholding tax; and Maritime Affairs will report a loss of Rs30 million.
It further said that the Federal Board of Revenue will face a total estimated revenue shortfall of Rs600bn in the last three months of the current financial year.
The report also suggested the way forward to deal with losses, saying some measures have already been taken.
In a statement for which she is being trolled, Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid has said that the government cannot conduct tests of people “only to check if they have coronavirus or not”.
Reports quoted the minister as contradicting the only utility of the tests amid the global COVID-19 outbreak, leaving people wondering what else were tests being conducted for.
صرف یہ جاننےکیلئے کہ کوروناہےیانہیں ٹیسٹ نہیں کیاجاسکتا،یاسمین راشد
She further said that 90 per cent of coronavirus patients reported to the health officials had shown no symptoms after contracting the virus.
“We need to create awareness among the masses regarding coronavirus and how it could be avoided,” the minister said, adding that Pakistan had less cases as compared to several other countries across the globe.
Dr Yasmin further said that the nation had to show a compassionate behavior towards the masses at the time of the pandemic.
Separately, she said that the Punjab government had conducted 101,897 tests so far, out of which 5,043 were conducted in a single day on May 4.
We have conducted 101,897 #COVIDー19 tests to date, out of which 5043 were conducted on 04.05.20 8103 cases were reported positive, we sadly lost 136 people but by the grace of Allah SWT 2,716 patients recovered fully to return home safe & sound. Let us all protect ourselves.
— Dr. Yasmin Rashid (@Dr_YasminRashid) May 4, 2020
“8103 cases were reported positive, we sadly lost 136 people but by the grace of Allah SWT 2,716 patients recovered fully to return home safe & sound [sic],” she tweeted.
PUNJAB LOCKDOWN:
Meanwhile, the Punjab government has decided to ease the ongoing lockdown after May 9 as the provincial tally of COVID-19 infections reaches 8,693 — highest in the country.
Textile, steel and spare part shops will be allowed to operate for six hours. Shopkeepers have reportedly been directed to strictly follow SOPs while dealing with the public.
Parks will also be reopened but swings will remain closed.
The province made the announcement prior to the National Command and Operation Centre meeting that is due to take place today.
Planning Minister Asad Umar will chair the meeting in Islamabad to decide whether the country-wide lockdown will be extended after May 9 or not. The chief ministers from all provinces will attend the meeting via video link.
It is expected that the provinces will be told to decide on lockdown restrictions by themselves.
