Tag: covid 19

  • Fifth wave of Covid in Pak: Positivity rate jumps to 3.66%

    Fifth wave of Covid in Pak: Positivity rate jumps to 3.66%

    The Covid-19 positivity rate in the country has jumped to 3.66 per cent. As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 1649 cases of the deadly virus were reported in the last 24 hours and three people lost their lives. Moreover, the number of critical patients have increased to 617.

    The United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) is shortening the recommended time for isolation due to Covid-19 for the public. CDC has also shortened the isolation and quarantine period if one is infected.

    As per CDC, if a person tests positive for Covid-19 should follow these guidelines:

    • Stay home for five days.
    • If you have no symptoms or your symptoms are resolving after five days, you can leave your house.
    • Continue to wear a mask around others for five additional days.
  • 2022 Grammy Awards officially postponed due to rise in Covid cases

    2022 Grammy Awards officially postponed due to rise in Covid cases

    The Grammy Awards event, which honours the best musical performances, has been postponed indefinitely due to the rapid spread of the Omicron type of the coronavirus, according to organisers.

    The performance was supposed to be held in a downtown Los Angeles arena on January 31 and broadcast live on the CBS network.

    “Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, holding the show on January 31 simply contains too many risks,” CBS and the recording Academy said in a joint statement, adding that a new date would be announced soon.

    The Grammy Awards for 2021 have likewise been postponed because of the COVID-19 epidemic.

    Organisers had hoped to return this year to something closer to the traditional celebration with a large audience inside the former Staples Center, now called Crypto.com Arena.

  • ‘Omicron shouldn’t be categorised as mild’: WHO

    ‘Omicron shouldn’t be categorised as mild’: WHO

    The infectious virus Omicron is a less severe disease than the globally dominant Delta strain, but should not be categorised as “mild”, WHO Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus clarified.

    While giving the statement in Geneva, he said that just like previous variants, Omicron is hospitalising and killing people, reports Reuters.

    Janet Diaz, WHO lead on clinical management said that when Omicron was first detected, early studies showed that there was a reduced risk of hospitalisation.

    According to her, the impact on the elderly is one of the big unanswered questions about the new variant as most of the cases studied so far have been in younger people.

    Currently, healthcare systems are overwhelmed, and governments are struggling to deal with the new variant which has killed millions of people worldwide.

    The vaccine process is quite slow in many countries. According to Ghebreyesus, 109 countries will miss the WHO’s target for 70 per cent of the world’s population to be fully vaccinated by July.

    Pakistan recorded 1293 cases on Friday and the positivity rate stands at 2.52 per cent.

  • Door-to-door vaccination for women to start as Omicron spreads in Karachi

    Door-to-door vaccination for women to start as Omicron spreads in Karachi

    In view of the rapid spread of Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant in Karachi, the Sindh government has decided to deploy lady health workers (LHWs) and female vaccinators for door-to-door vaccination in the province. The government took the decision when it was discovered that most stay-at-home women are still unvaccinated, officials said on Thursday.

    “We have decided to send LHWs and female vaccinators to each and every house in Sindh to vaccinate people, especially women, against Covid-19 because most of the non-working women in Karachi, as well as other major cities and rural areas of Sindh, have been found to be unvaccinated,” MPA Qasim Soomro, Parliamentary Health secretary in the provincial assembly, told The News.

    Soomro ruled out any discussion within the government about tough measures and Covid-19-related curbs as they were placed during previous waves of the pandemic but called for an aggressive vaccination campaign to avoid harsh measures.

    “Vaccination of women against Covid-19 has largely been ignored by the heads of their families, especially those women who are housewives and don’t work in public and private sector offices and businesses. This section of the population is most affected due to Covid-19, especially the Omicron variant, which is targeting unvaccinated population very easily.”

    “Training of LHWs and female vaccinators is underway, and hopefully, they will be trained in vaccinating people by the end of this week. Door-to-door vaccination against Covbid-19 will hopefully commence by the start of next week.”

  • COVID-positive Singer Sonu Nigam and family can’t wait for home quarantine to end

    COVID-positive Singer Sonu Nigam and family can’t wait for home quarantine to end

    Singer Sonu Nigam and his family have tested positive for COVID-19 as a new wave of the Omicron variant takes over, reported The Hindustan Times.

    Singer Sonu Nigam, who is currently in Dubai with his family, has announced that he has tested positive for Covid-19, along with his wife, son and sister-in-law.

    Captioning the post, “I tested (positive for) COVID. Happy New Year 2022 to the extended family,” Nigam shared that he tested positive for the virus multiple times although his symptoms are mild.

    “I feel we will have to live with it. Many times, I have performed at concerts while being down with viral fever, having a bad throat or congestion. This feels a lot better than that, I am not dying,” he explained in the video.

    Nigam further quipped that being down with Covid meant he could spend more time with his son, dubbing it a “happy COVID family”.

  • BBL 11: Fakhar’s Heat and Shadab’s Sixers match postponed after Covid chaos

    BBL 11: Fakhar’s Heat and Shadab’s Sixers match postponed after Covid chaos

    Covid chaos has again rocked the Big Bash League (BBL) with a clash between the Pakistani batter Fakhar Zaman’s Brisbane Heat and all-rounder Shadab Khan’s Sydney Sixers called off after 12 Brisbane players tested positive to the virus.

    “Twelve Heat players today returned positive PCR tests for Covid-19 and are currently isolating,” the BBL confirmed in a statement on Wednesday.

    “Despite its best endeavours, the club was unable to recruit enough replacement players in the 24 hours since the first case was identified to make up the required squad of 13 for tonight’s match.”

    The earlier game between the Adelaide Strikers and the Hobart Hurricanes at the Adelaide Oval will go ahead, but the time has been pushed back a little given that the play will go late in the Test at the SCG.

    The development came on the back the crisis that has seen the Melbourne Stars forced to field a second string team with skipper Glenn Maxwell, the latest player to test positive in their camp.

    The post also read that the league will advise a new date for the match and ticket holders will be contacted for the refunding process.

    More than half the BBL’s teams have now reported positive cases.

  • ‘Masks, avoid crowds, vaccinate’: Dr Faisal Sultan urges people to take Omicron seriously

    ‘Masks, avoid crowds, vaccinate’: Dr Faisal Sultan urges people to take Omicron seriously

    Urging people not to take the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 lightly, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on health Dr. Faisal Sultan on Tuesday said there will be some increase in hospitalisation of patients in the next one to two weeks and urged people to wear masks, avoid crowds and get vaccinated at the earliest. It takes 1-2 weeks for hospitalisations to go up, says the health minister as Omicron cases rise.

    So far Pakistan has recorded 372 cases of the Omicron variant, Dr Faisal Sultan, told Reuters.

    “It’s still a bit early to draw conclusions since it takes 1-2 weeks for hospitalisations to go up. Also, let us see how the virus behaves regarding virulence”, Dr Sultan said when asked as to why hospitalisations were not going up in Karachi despite an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases due to the spread of the Omicron variant.

    “At the moment, we are receiving one or two patients with Covid-19 on daily basis, but so far, we have not found anybody infected with Omicron Variant of the Covid-19”, Dr Abdul Wahid Rajput, Medical Superintendent of the Infectious Diseases Hospital, affiliated with Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) told The News.

     “There will be some increase in hospitalisation. How much, depends on the degree of spread and infection. International evidence suggests it spreads fast; how much serious sickness it causes will be evident in a week or two (for us)”, Dr Sultan added.

    “What I would say is this: we should not take it lightly”, he warned.

    When asked if the government was worried about the low vaccination rate in major cities, including Karachi and Lahore, he said: “We want it (vaccination) higher for sure. I am happy that the vaccination rates picked up with time but we still have some distance to still go. So I would not say I am worried but that we need to enhance the numbers further.”

    “Masks. Masks. Masks. Avoid crowds. Vaccinate. Ventilate,” was his advice to people in Karachi.

  • BTS leader RM and member Jin recover from covid-19

    BTS leader RM and member Jin recover from covid-19

    Popular Korean pop group, BTS leader, Kim Namjoon whose stage name is RM, and sub-vocalist Jin recovered from coronavirus and were also discharged from quarantine.

    BighHit management posted the official statement on the fan community platform, Weverse.

    According to the statement, RM and Jin did not experience any particular health symptoms during quarantine duration however Jin has shown mild symptoms of fever in the early days of home treatment. Now, Jin has fully recovered from covid.

    The company said, “BTS members RM and Jin were notified of their full recovery from COVID-19 and we inform you that starting on January 4 at 12PM KST, their quarantine ended.“

    Both members tested positive on Christmas, December 25.

    Yesterday, group member Suga also fully recovered from coronavirus who was diagnosed with covid on December 24 last year.

    All three members contracted covid after coming back from their official vacation in the United States (US).

    BTS fandom, ARMY calls it the Best News Ever!

    Some fans are looking forward to the comeback and also thank their management company to look after their artists’ health.

  • BTS member Suga recovers from covid-19

    BTS member Suga recovers from covid-19

    South Korean k-pop group, BTS member, Suga recovered from coronavirus and is released from quarantine.

    His management company, BigHit released the official statement regarding Suga recovery from covid-19

    “BTS member SUGA has made a full recovery from COVID-19, and his quarantine has concluded as of today (January 3) at noon.

    Suga, who had been receiving treatment from home for the past 10 days from Friday, December 24, is now able to return to his daily activities.

    Suga did not exhibit any particular symptoms during his quarantine and is currently recuperating while resting at home.

    We would like to thank all fans who have shown concern for the artist’s health as well as those in the medical field who are doing their best to overcome COVID-19.”

    Suga also shared his recovery news to the fan community platform, Weverse excitedly.

    He wrote, “Released from quarantine!” with the smile emoji to express his happiness.

    Suga has tested positive on December 24 for coronavirus after wrapping up his official vacation in the United States (US).

    BTS fandom, ARMY also reacted with happiness and encouraging messages on Twitter.

    https://twitter.com/megaminimoni_/status/1477838474019368968

    Meanwhile, BTS leader Rap Monster (RM) and member Jin are still in quarantine who were diagnosed with covid-19 on the Christmas holiday.

  • 46% of Pakistanis are fully vaccinated against Covid-19

    National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) Cheif Asad Umar has revealed 46 per cent of Pakistan’s eligible population has been fully vaccinated against coronavirus.

    In a tweet, the federal minister said, “Amongst the federating units, Islamabad leads with 77 per cent fully vaccinated persons. Punjab is at 51 per cent, Gilgit-Baltistan 46 per cent, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 45 per cent, Balochistan 42 per cent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 41 per cent, and Sindh at 37 per cent.”

    Umar also confirmed that 63 per cent of the country’s population has been administered the first dose of the vaccine.

    The country reported over 500 covid cases in a day on Friday, positivity rate stands at one per cent.

    Health experts have linked the rise in Covid-19 cases with the Omicron variant as nearly 89 cases of the new strain have been reported alone in Karachi.