Tag: covid pakistan

  • ‘Hospital inflow & critical care patients at highest level’, says Asad Umar

    Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar has said that critical patients admitted in hospitals due to covid-19 are at “highest level.”

    “As seen globally, impact of indian delta variant in Pakistan also shows that it spreads faster & increases chances of patients to need hospitalization,” wrote the minister in a tweet.

    “Right now both hospital inflow & critical care patients at highest level since start of covid,” he added.

    Asad also requested people to, “please follow sop’s & vaccinate.”

    Read more- No public transport after Oct 15 unless fully vaccinated: Asad Umar

    As per the National National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan recorded 4,103 cases of Covid-19 on September 2 in the country.

  • No petrol for unvaccinated people from September 1

    District government Lahore placed banners in petrol stations across the city saying that only fully vaccinated people will be able to get the petrol from September 1. The decision came amid the sharp increase of Covid-19 cases in the country.

    “From September 1, only customers with coronavirus vaccine certificates will be able to buy petrol,” a banner placed on a petrol pump read.

    Earlier this week, Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar has said those who have not been fully vaccinated will not be allowed to use public transport from October 15.

    As per the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan has recorded 4,016 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

  • No side effects of Covid-19 vaccine on Pregnant women: PMA

    The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has said that Covid-19 vaccine has no side effects on pregnant women and they can get vaccinated for Covid.

    “There is no issue in getting Covid vaccine doses,” said PMA General Secretary Dr Qaiser Sajjad, adding that pregnant women can get Covid jabs after three months of pregnancy.

    He explained that pregnant women are given multivitamins after three months of pregnancy as a preventive measure, and that they can also obtain Covid vaccines available in the country because they pose no risk to the mother or child’s life.

    On Monday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said that Covid-19 vaccine is advised for pregnant or breastfeeding women since the possible advantages exceed the dangers.

    “Viral infections are sometimes seen to be worse in pregnant women. Examples include chickenpox and hepatitis E. From information known at present, pregnant women have a higher risk for severe illness from Covid-19 when compared to non-pregnant women,” he added.

    As per the National National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Pakistan recorded 4,075 cases of Covid-19 in the country.

  • Pakistan responds to UK’s concerns amid Red List travel ban

    Pakistan responds to UK’s concerns amid Red List travel ban

    The Pakistan government has responded to the United Kingdom (UK) government’s reasons for keeping the former on its travel Red List in a detailed letter written by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan.

     Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari shared the letter on Twitter and said, “The table exposes claims of UK govt, clearly it has been a political decision.”

    Mazari further tweeted, “UK’s Conservative govt with a strong Indophiles’ presence playing discriminatory politics against Pakistan on Covid.”

    Dr Sultan in his letter writes that Pakistan has “no interest in allowing” its nationals who pose a health risk to other societies to travel abroad. He said this is a shared global objective.

    Dr Sultan presented a table comparing key indicators from Pakistan and some other countries in the region, which currently sit on the Amber List, to illustrate what he referred to as “obvious disparities”. He said that when looking at countries’ track record of managing the epidemic, “numbers alone, without context, can be deceptive”.

    The SAPM explained how the Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests in Pakistan were being conducted and highlighted that testing is done through “agreed-upon national algorithms”. He explained how it makes for “accurate and timely data inputs”.

    “We feel that the number of tests being done is a large enough sample size to be a sensitive and accurate barometer of the epidemic and the number, especially when seen with the percentage positivity rate, has accurately reflected the rise and fall of all the waves seen so far,” Dr Sultan wrote.

    SAPM agreed that Pakistan does have limitations in whole-genome sequencing throughput, compared to the UK, which is the current leader in this arena. So far 854 samples have been sequenced during July and August 2021 and the details are shared with the World Health Organisation (WHO) regularly.

  • Pakistan on Red List for not providing Covid-19 data, UK claims

    Pakistan on Red List for not providing Covid-19 data, UK claims

    The British government has claimed that the Pakistan authorities did not send them the Covid-19 data on vaccination and testing, which likely explains why Pakistan is still on the United Kingdom (UK) travel ban Red List while India and several other countries have been removed from the ban list and moved to the Amber category, Murtaza Ali Shah reports for The News.

    Social media users, Pakistani and some UK officials also criticised the UK’s decision to not move Pakistan from the Red List to the Amber List but it has now come to light that the Pakistan government’s National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) did not share the data of vaccination and testing with the UK authorities.

    The Pakistani government officials have claimed that the UK authorities did not ask them for any data; that the Pakistan government has been sharing data with the British High Commission in Islamabad. The data was accessible on the NCOC’s Twitter and the UK government could have easily checked it before making and announcing a decision on the latest removals and retention of the travel list.

    Several British Pakistani MPs wrote objection letters after it was announced that Pakistan would stay on the Red List while India was taken off the list despite worse Covid-19 situation.

     One British Pakistani spoke to a senior UK government minister who told the MP that Pakistan had failed to provide data to the UK government. There was no lobbying effort from the Pakistani government, which was why Pakistan remained on the Red List. Both the MP and the senior government minister wanted to be anonymous.

    On Friday, NCOC head Asad Umar, and SAPM National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan conducted a virtual meeting with Pakistani-origin Labour MPs Khalid Mahmood, Muhammad Yasin, Tahir Ali, Afzal Khan, Lord Wajid Khan, Imran Hussain, Yasim Qureshi, Pakistan High Commissioner Moazzam Ali Khan, Naz Shah and Dr Rosena Khan.

    Five MPs, who spoke to Geo and The News, confirmed that the subject was discussed during the meeting whether Islamabad had given data to London or not – after two MPs asked the same question to Pakistani ministers. The MPs told Pakistan officials what the UK government had told them about not sharing the data.

    According to the MPs, Asad Umar told them that the data was publicly available on the NCOC forums including Twitter and Youtube and the UK authorities could have got it. According to one MP, Faisal Sultan said that he had not spoken to British High Commissioner Christian Turner in “4-5 weeks”.

    The MPs said they asked Pakistani ministers and Pakistan High Commission diplomats what efforts had they made to engage with the UK government through the Foreign Office and the High Commission to get Pakistan off the list. The MPs said Pakistani officials had no response.

    The Pakistan High Commission said on Friday that the Pakistani envoy met PM Boris Johnson at Sandhurst Academy and highlighted the issue of Red List.

    During their meeting with Asad Umar and Faisal Sultan, the MPs said that the UK government believed that Pakistan was performing lower in areas over positivity rate, percentage of genomic testing, and types of viruses, vaccination rates and testing.

    In comparison, other countries fared well and came off the Red List. One MP told the Pakistani officials that Pakistan had conducted under 300 genomics tests in the whole year while some countries were conducting 2,500 genomics tests a month.

    At the end of the meeting, Asad Umar tweeted: “Had a session with some UK MP’s regarding the continuation of Pakistan on the red list. Shared data regarding Covid disease surveillance and explained Pak strategy for Covid response. Will engage with the UK govt to ensure that red list decisions are based on science not politics.”

    One MP said that at the end of the meeting, Asad Umar shared with them the information sheets that were required. “It’s clear looking at these sheets that Pakistan has up-to-date data but I feel Pakistan authorities should have shared the same with the UK government and run effective lobbying. The UK MPs have been raising their voice because they are under pressure from their constituents but it’s the government’s responsibility to have engaged with the UK government,” said the MP.

  • Corona Relief Funds: Auditors find fictitious purchases of items worth Rs881 million by KP govt

    Corona Relief Funds: Auditors find fictitious purchases of items worth Rs881 million by KP govt

    Investigative reporter Zahid Gishkori has revealed that the country’s top auditors have pointed out fictitious purchases, huge irregularities, wasteful expenditures, and losses to public funds of more than Rs3 billion by the health department of the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). According to a report published in The News, a special audit team of the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) found “fictitious purchases of items worth Rs881 million by the KP government”.

    “The auditors scrutinised the allocation of Rs8.8 billion made for the fiscal year 2019-20, including Rs7.8 billion released by the finance department KP government. Furthermore, auditors also audited an amount of Rs1.7 billion allocated by the finance department to the health department, home & TA department, and the Pandemic Response Effectiveness in Pakistan (PREP), KP, for fighting the Covid-19 pandemic,” read the report.

    “The auditors pointed to doubtful purchases of equipment worth Rs14.358 million, which included stockpiling and logistics, noticing irregularities in an amount of Rs1 billion, which was allocated for provision of death compensation under the relief package for frontline workers dealing with Covid-19.”

    The report also features irregularities in funds of Rs140 million, which were released to the Home and Tribal Affairs Department for screening of prisoners.

    “The audit team also pointed out that the management of PDMA incurred an expenditure of Rs62 million on the purchase of PPEs without any market survey. The audit team pointed to losses of Rs117 million public funds in the purchase of some specification cardiac monitors recommending a high-level inquiry for fixing responsibility and making good the loss sustained by the government,” stated the report.

    “The AGP also questioned non-supply of ICU ventilators despite payment of Rs43.425 million and non-supply of medical equipment worth Rs150 million. Auditors also recommended a doubtful award of contract and payment of Rs11 million to M/s Dawazai & Company, pointing out a supply of 400,000 substandard masks by M/s Protech Solutions to the PDMA accordingly.”

    Meanwhile, Finance & Health Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Taimur Khan Jhagra tweeted, “[The report is] confusing, misleading & irresponsible; this article is based on an on-going audit process in the province.”

    However, as per The News, the complete audit report has been sent to President Arif Alvi.

  • 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.

  • 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.