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Category: Health

  • Ministry of Science solves hand sanitisers shortage

    Ministry of Science solves hand sanitisers shortage

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry tweeted on Wednesday that hand sanitizers made by PCSIR (Ministry of S&T) with WHO-approved standards are now available at a mass level. He said that all provincial governments are advised to contact PCSIR in provincial headquarters for mass supplies and they will also be made available in utility stores.

    Speaking exclusively to The Current, Chaudhry said, “We have made these hand sanitisers as per WHO [World Health Organisation ] standards. Their cost is Rs 350 per 250ml bottle. They are available at all regional headquarters and we have informed all provincial governments that if they need these for their hospitals, they can pick them up from PCSIR.”

    Read more – Can’t find hand sanitizers? Here is an effective homemade recipe

    Chaudhry further shared another major breakthrough is in the offing.

    ”NUST has made a testing kit for coronavirus so we are trying to get its commercial production started in the next 10-15 days. There were some legal matters, which we have cleared now. Expression of Interest will be with us in a day or two. Cost of this kit will be then reduced to Rs 800-1,000. Right now, private testing costs about Rs 8,000 so it will be cut down manifold. This will be a huge breakthrough,” Chaudhry told The Current.

    This announcement comes at a time when hand sanitisers are not readily available in the markets or are being sold at high prices.

  • 103-year-old Chinese women recovers from coronavirus

    103-year-old Chinese women recovers from coronavirus

    Coronavirus has killed more than 8,000 people globally. What is more dangerous is the huge flow of non-scientific information coming from every corner of the world on how the disease can be cured.

    So far, scientists are experimenting with new methods to find the cure. However, they have not achieved this milestone yet.

    Amid this panic, it is being believed that the disease is lethal for people who have crossed the age of 40. However, Zhang Guangfen, a 103-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan, has recovered from this disease and came back home just after spending six days in the hospital, Daily Watch Chutian reported.

    She was diagnosed at Liyuan Hospital, Tongji Media College, in Wuhan on the 1st of March.

  • Coronavirus makes its way to Indian military as soldier tests positive

    Coronavirus makes its way to Indian military as soldier tests positive

    An Indian Army soldier, posted in the mountainous region of Ladakh, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, The Economic Times reported on Wednesday.

    According to reports, the soldier’s father had returned from Iran on February 27. At the time, the soldier was on leave. He rejoined his post on March 2.

    After returning to Ladakh, his father was quarantined at a local hospital where he tested positive for COVID-19 on March 6. A day later, the soldier was quarantined. On Monday, he also tested positive for the virus.

    During his quarantine period, the soldier was staying in his native village and helping his family. His sister, wife and two children have also been placed in quarantine.

    The soldier and all his colleagues were placed in isolation after the former tested positive.

    Earlier on Wednesday, another army official attached to the College of Military Engineering in Pune has been asked to self-quarantine after he showed symptoms of flu.

    As of now, 147 people have tested positive in India.

    To contain the spread of the coronavirus, India’s Health Ministry has announced a temporary travel ban from the European Union (EU), United Kingdom (UK) and Turkey.

  • Can’t find hand sanitizer? Here is an effective homemade recipe

    Can’t find hand sanitizer? Here is an effective homemade recipe

    We have all been scouring stores looking for hand sanitizer in every market and pharmacy and it’s nowhere to be found. If you do find it, the price is incredibly high and doesn’t feel worth the cost.

    The main ingredient in hand sanitizer is rubbing alcohol, which is easily available in pharmacies. Experts suggest the hand sanitizer should have 60-70 % of rubbing alcohol for it to be effective in killing germs.

    RELATED: All Coronavirus Updates

    The following is a tried and tested recipe for a homemade hand sanitizer. Aloe vera is also easily available and buying the plant might be even cheaper.

  • Japan might have a vaccine for Coronavirus

    Japan might have a vaccine for Coronavirus

    The Japanese media is reporting that a drug created in Japan to treat new strains of the flu has appeared to be effective in coronavirus patients in China.

    Medical authorities have used the drug during a drug test in China reports The Guardian, and according to an official of China’s science and technology ministry, “it is clearly effective in treatment”.

    The drug, known as favipiravir, developed as a subsidiary of Fujifilm, has produced encouraging results in clinical trials in Wuhan and Shenzhen. The trials included 340 patients.

    READ MORE: All Coronavirus Updates

    In Shenzhen, patients who were given the medicine, showed negative for the virus, four days after they had tested positive. This is in comparison to people who showed negative to the virus after 11 days of testing positive. X-rays also showed improvements in lung conditions in “about 91% of the patients who were treated” with the medication, “compared to 62% of those without the drug,” reported The Guardian.

    Simultaneously, doctors in Japan were using the same drug in their studies on coronavirus patients with mild to moderate symptoms but their results suggested that it doesn’t work on people with more severe symptoms.

    RELATED: The U.S. warns coronavirus “will last 18 months or longer”

    The drug was first used in 2016 by the Japanese government as an emergency medication to counter the Ebola virus in Guinea. Since this drug was originally intended to treat the flu, it would need government approval for full use on coronavirus patients.

  • The U.S. warns coronavirus “will last 18 months or longer”

    The U.S. warns coronavirus “will last 18 months or longer”

    The United States government has released a 100-page plan that details the impact of coronavirus on the country, economy, and the health system.

    According to The New York Times, the plan warns that the pandemic “will last 18 months or longer” and might have “multiple waves,” that will create a lot of shortage of resources around the world.

    READ MORE: Coronavirus: Opp calls PM ‘petty’ for not mentioning Sindh CM in address

    The importance of social distancing cannot be stressed enough by scientists and health experts. According to an article in Vox, “Scientists warn we may need to live with social distancing for a year or more”, with experts stating that, “this virus is going to be circulating, potentially for a year or two, so we need to be thinking on those time scales. There are no good options here”.

    RELATED: DO YOU HAVE CORONAVIRUS?

    The article also explains that people assume that a lockdown or social distancing for a few weeks might be the solution but, “the hard truth is that it may keep infecting people and causing outbreaks until there’s a vaccine or treatment to stop it”.

    Pakistan has 237 confirmed cases with 172 in Sindh, 26 in Punjab, 16 in Balochistan, 16 in KP, five in Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir and two in Islamabad

  • PSL Player Alex Hales clarifies reports that he has coronavirus

    PSL Player Alex Hales clarifies reports that he has coronavirus

    After reports that Karachi King’s player Alex Hales was being tested for coronavirus, the English player has issued a statement clarifying that he has not been tested yet for the virus but is expected to be tested soon. He says that he left Pakistan healthy but woke up with a fever and a cough and has been in self isolation since then.

    READ MORE: CM Buzdar rubbishes reports of first COVID-19 death, says deceased tested negative

    Alex Hales’ statement

    The statement comes after rumours that Alex Hales had tested positive for coronavirus, which he addressed on Twitter. After journalist Ajmal Jami tweeted a Gulf News story that Hales had tested positive for coronavirus, Hales replied to Jami’s tweet, which Jami later deleted.

    https://twitter.com/AlexHales1/status/1239872849155940352
    Alex Hales responds to Jami

    After Hales’ tweet, Jami clarified his tweet on Gulf News’ story.

    RELATED: ALL CORONAVIRUS UPDATES

    Earlier, Ramiz Raja had confirmed that Hales was being tested for the virus but later clarified on twitter that Hales was in self quarantine.

    Ramiz Raja confirms that Hales is being tested for the virus

  • CM Buzdar rubbishes reports of first COVID-19 death, says deceased tested negative

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar has rubbished reports claiming that the individual who passed away at Lahore’s Mayo Hospital was suffering from the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — and marked the first fatality in Pakistan due to the global pandemic.

    Earlier, it was reported that Pakistan’s first death due to coronavirus had been reported in Lahore. Reports that had come following a viral video that showed the deceased being brought out of the hospital in a coffin by staff in hazmat suits, had not drawn any official statements except Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid saying that results of the patient’s coronavirus test were still awaited.

    A private media outlet had, however, quoted health officials as saying that the patient “did die due to coronavirus”.

    “We have received test reports of Imran Ali, who lost his life in Mayo Hospital, and his cause of death was not #COVID19. So far Punjab has 8 confirmed cases and are being provided best available treatment [sic],” Buzdar tweeted later in the day.

    He further urged everyone “to act responsibly” in these testing times.

  • VIDEO: Watch Usman Buzdar protect himself from coronavirus

    Chief Minister Buzdar has recently been tweeting about the pandemic and what Punjab is doing to control its spread. The largest province has eerily been silent on the issue, confirming only six cases compared to Sindh’s 155 cases and the CM has faced much criticism for keeping quiet on the issue. The government has yet to confirm whether a suspected coronavirus case has died this morning in Mayo hospital.

    READ MORE: VIDEO: Suspected coronavirus patient at Lahore’s Mayo Hospital passes away

    Admist the confusion, CM Buzdar was recently seen protecting himself from the virus by getting his temperature checked and also using hand sanitizer to promote safety.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    CM Buzdar getting his temperature checked and using hand sanitizer

    RELATED: All the coronavirus updates you need to know

    Punjab has yet to reveal how they are controlling the spread of the pandemic or how they have managed to control it since only six cases have emerged in the province.

  • Army medical facilities “geared up” to deal with pandemic

    Army medical facilities “geared up” to deal with pandemic

    The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has released a statement saying that, “as part of the national effort and in line with the decisions of the National Security Committee taken on 13 March, all medical facilities of the Armed Forces are operationalised and geared up to meet any eventuality to deal with pandemic”.

    READ MORE: Coronavirus: PM wants rich countries to waive off Pakistan, other poor countries’ loans

    They also stated that coronavirus testing labs have been established at major military hospitals across the country and a central testing lab at the Armed Forces institute of Pathology. A coronavirus help desk has been established at each military hospital for fast track checking.

    RELATED: CHECKLIST: Do you have Coronavirus?

    “Armed Forces of Pakistan are fully involved in assisting the government and provincial administrations to tackle the situation since the outbreak and duly vigilant of the developing situation post COVID-19,” said the statement and that the Chief of Army Staff has directed all commanders to take “maximum necessary measures to assist civil administration for safety”.

    READ MORE: ALL CORONAVIRUS UPDATES

    Meanwhile, in an interview to a foreign media outlet, Prime Minister Imran Khan has predicted that the novel coronavirus would destroy the economy of developing countries. 

    “In case we get swamped by this virus, our health facilities will not be able to cope with it,” he added.

    He also urged the United States (US) to lift sanctions over Iran as they were in a terrible state due to the pandemic and the sanctions had already impoverished Tehran.

    Pakistan has a total of 193 confirmed cases with the highest number of cases in Sindh at 155 and the lowest in Punjab with two.