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Category: Health

  • Deceased Peshawar patient did not have coronavirus, tests confirm

    Deceased Peshawar patient did not have coronavirus, tests confirm

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra has withdrawn his earlier tweet regarding the first death of a suspected coronavirus case in Peshawar, saying that the deceased had tested negative for COVID-19.

    Earlier, it was reported that the patient had been admitted to Hayatabad Medical Complex in Peshawar and his test results were awaited, causing panic over what could have been Pakistan’s first reported death due to the new coronavirus.

    RELATED: How to get yourself tested for coronavirus in Pakistan

    If he had the virus when he died, he will be the first confirmed coronavirus death in Pakistan. However, the website https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ has already listed one death for Pakistan in it’s rankings of cases around the world.

    Screenshot from website worldometer info, which is ranking coronavirus cases in the world. Pakistan is listed as having one death due to the virus

    READ MORE: Sindh confirms 41 new cases of coronavirus, 94 infections confirmed in Pakistan

    There are at least 94 more cases in Pakistan and are steadily rising.

  • How to get yourself tested for coronavirus in Pakistan

    How to get yourself tested for coronavirus in Pakistan

    With the number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — reaching 94 in Pakistan as Sindh alone reports a surge of 41 new cases on Monday, efforts are being made by the federal as well as all provincial governments to contain the outbreak that has claimed at least 6,000 lives globally.

    COVID-19, which belongs to a family of viruses that include the common cold and more serious diseases, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), has a wide range of symptoms, including fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties.

    If you feel like you have any of the symptoms, here’s how you can get yourself tested in Pakistan:

    • Visit a government-designated public or private hospital. According to Dawn, Dr Mumtaz Ali Khan of the National Institute of Health (NIH) has said that all district headquarters hospitals and tertiary care hospitals across the country are equipped to collect samples for coronavirus.
    • At the hospital, a doctor will check the patient for symptoms to determine if he or she has coronavirus, according to NIH Executive Director Maj Gen Aamir Ikram.
    • The patient will be asked a set of questions regarding their travel history as well as of those they have been in close contact with.
    • If the doctor rules out suspicion of coronavirus, the patient will be sent back.
    • If the doctor comes to the conclusion that the patient is manifesting symptoms, a swab of their saliva is taken and sent to one of the designated facilities that have coronavirus testing equipment.
    • This testing will be done free of cost.

    While some private labs are independently testing individuals for the virus against a fee, here’s a list of facilities sending samples to the main centres for free testing. The free facilities will, however, not conduct tests themselves on individual requests.

    SINDH:

    • Chandka Medical College Hospital – Larkana
    • Ghulam Muhammad Mahar Medical College – Sukkur
    • Peoples Medical University Hospital – Nawabshah
    • Civil Hospital – Karachi
    • Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre – Karachi
    • Lyari General Hospital – Karachi
    • Indus Hospital – Karachi
    • Aga Khan Hospital – Karachi
    • Dow University of Health Sciences, Ojha – Karachi
    • District Health Offices (DHOs) all over the province

    PUNJAB:

    • Services Hospital – Lahore
    • Nishtar Hospital – Multan
    • Benazir Hospital – Rawalpindi

    AZAD JAMMU & KASHMIR:

    • Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan Hospital – Muzaffarabad
    • Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences – Muzaffarabad
    • Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan Hospital – Rawalakot
    • Divisional Headquarters Hospital – Mirpur
    • District Headquarters Hospital – Kotli

    GILGIT BALTISTAN:

    • In Gilgit-Baltistan, citizens can contact district health authorities who will come to their homes to collect samples

    KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA:

    • In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Police Services Hospital has been made the main centre for dealing with coronavirus cases

    Meanwhile, the federal health ministry has set up 1166 as its coronavirus hotline.

  • Karachi seals restaurants to curb coronavirus spread

    In a bid to control the spread of the coronavirus, the Karachi police is sealing large restaurants in the city.

    As per reports, the police have taken action in several areas, including Rashid Minhas Road, Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Keamari. They are also taking action against large gatherings of people.

    Earlier, the Sindh government had released advisories asking people to avoid going to crowded places and government officials had been requesting people to refrain from getting together and even celebrating wedding functions.

    On Saturday, Mayor Karachi Wasim Akhtar had announced that recreational sites in Karachi, including the Karachi Zoo, Safari Park and Landhi-Korangi Zoo, have been closed for the public for an indefinite period of time. All marriage halls, shrines and cinemas in the province have also been closed for the next three weeks.

    According to the latest reports, Pakistan has at least 84 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the country. At 76, Sindh has the highest number of cases. Two people have recovered.

  • Sindh confirms 41 new cases of coronavirus, 94 infections confirmed in Pakistan

    Senator Murtaza Wahab has confirmed 50 new coronavirus cases since his last update — 41 new cases since The Current’s last report — in Sindh, which has taken the total number of infections in Pakistan to 94.

    According to Murtaza, out of the total 76 patients in Sindh, two have recovered while the remaining 74 are being kept in isolation. 25 of the said cases are in Karachi.

    RELATED: Pakistan’s handling of coronavirus among world’s best: WHO country head

    Meanwhile, Lahore has confirmed just one case of the virus, one in Islamabad and Punjab has imposed section 144 in the province, shutting down schools and public places for three weeks. Shrines have also been closed in the province for three weeks.

    https://twitter.com/MusarratCheema/status/1239244547282161666

    READ MORE: Daily Coronavirus Updates

    Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan has stated that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan is personally monitoring the pandemic and its spread in Pakistan.

  • 13 new polio cases reported in a single day in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

    13 new polio cases reported in a single day in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

    In a shocking development, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported 13 new cases of type 2 polio cases. This is the highest number of cases to be reported in the province in one day.

    According to the provincial health department, seven of the cases were reported from Khyber tribal district, while one case each was reported from Lakki Marwat, Bannu, Mardan, Nowshera, Bajaur and Lower Dir.

    WATCH: The Current tours Pakistan’s Polio Lab

    A senior public health specialist told a leading newspaper on condition of anonymity, that several Pakistani health specialists had raised the issues over the polio programme, but “they are either sidelined or kicked out of the programme,” also adding that the reason why the virus spreading so fast is that not every child is being reached in infected areas and the government is missing a lot of children that need to be vaccinated.

    “Pakistan has this year reported 25 cVDP2 (type 2) cases, in which Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone had a share of 24,” the report said. Type 2 polio does not cause paralysis but is debilitating. The type 2 virus was eliminated in the country in 2016 and reemerged last year.

    In 2019, Pakistan had reported 22 cases of type two polio cases, including 16 from KP. These were apart from type one polio cases in 2020, which are 29 in the country and 15 in KP.

    “It is a money-driven programme and huge salaries and incentives are being taken by the consultants at the top level. Unfortunately, some people in the programme are very influential and answerable to none and they set their agenda ignoring local needs and requirements,” he maintained, according to The News.

    Another senior official said that after working with the polio programme for many years, he realises that the elimination of polio is not a priority.

  • Pakistan’s handling of coronavirus among world’s best: WHO country head

    Pakistan’s handling of coronavirus among world’s best: WHO country head

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Head Dr Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala, praised Pakistan’s efforts in tackling coronavirus, noting that the country had come  up “with one of the world’s best National Response Program against the virus”.

    While talking to media in Karachi during his visit to hospitals and labs, he said, “At a time when other countries were reporting cases, Pakistan was keeping the virus at bay, which is something quite praiseworthy.”

    READ MORE: CORONAVIRUS DAILY UPDATES

    “Pakistan has timely come up with one of the world’s best National Response Program against COVID-19 and it is being implemented very effectively. Authorities are doing their job and now it is the responsibility of the people to follow the instructions and take preventive and precautionary measures to avoid contracting the viral disease”, Dr Mahipala said while speaking to The News.

    He inspected the isolation ward of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) In Karachi and was satisfied with the steps taken by the institute. He also visited Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Oja Campus and said that their lab and isolation facility was, “a world-class diagnostic and treatment facility”.

    RELATED: Pakistani couple distributes free coronavirus prevention kits in UK

    “At the moment, Pakistan has seven diagnostic labs which are capable of conducting 15,000 tests, but there is a need for more diagnostic facilities in case the number of suspected patients go up,” he said, adding that authorities had even established a mobile diagnostic facility that had been sent to Taftan to test and diagnose suspected cases coming from Iran. Even countries with superior health systems like South Korea and Italy had failed to contain the virus but Pakistani authorities timely responded to the pandemic and took preventive measures earlier on, he said.

    READ MORE: Coronavirus: Indian media reports fake claim, says top Pak army officers infected

    He urged people to wash their hands with soap and use a ‘coughing etiquette’ while coughing. He also said that 67% of the patients who were tested positive with COVID-19 had cough with temperature and difficulty in breathing.

  • Coronavirus: Indian media reports fake claim, says top Pak army officers infected

    In a rather amusing development amid coronavirus fears, Indian media has quoted a fake Twitter handle of Pakistan’s Health Ministry to report that at least eight officers of Pakistan army, including three lieutenant colonels, two colonels, two brigadiers and one major general, have tested positive for COVID-19.

    “Routine check-up in GHQ [General Headquarters] Rawalpindi by #COVID19 investigation team has found that 3 Lt.colonel, 2 Colonel, 2 Brigadier, 1 Maj.general has been tested positive for coronavirus. #CoronavirusPandemic. [sic]” reports quoted a statement tweeted by an account that has now been suspended by the micro-blogging website.

    The blunder was also highlighted by Uzair Hasan Rizvi of AFPFactCheck.

    A Health Ministry spokesperson also confirmed that the account was fake.

    It was created in September 2019 and was regularly tweeting misleading information regarding the efforts of the government to control coronavirus in the country.

    Meanwhile, the coronavirus tally in Pakistan has reached 29 with Islamabad’s maiden case being reported Saturday. The federal and all provincial governments are taking every possible step to contain the virus.

  • Royals find unique ways to greet people amid coronavirus outbreak

    Royals find unique ways to greet people amid coronavirus outbreak

    After the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus to be a pandemic, medical experts have advised people not to greet each other with a handshake. Hugs, high fives and side kisses are also to be avoided.

    In the light of this, people are adopting unique ways to greet each other. The Indian namaste or ‘the Wuhan Shake’ has become the go-to way to greet each other now so much so that even the royals have now adopted it.

    A video of Prince Charles which has gone viral on social media, shows him finding it difficult to avoid shaking hands when greeting people.

    The Prince of Wales arrived at the Prince’s Trust Awards, held at the London Palladium, where he attempted to shake the hand of Sir Kenneth Olisa, the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London. After extending his hand, the 71-year-old remembered the precautions and he placed his palms together for a ‘Namaste‘ instead.

       Prince Harry was also spotted giving singer Craig David an anti-coronavirus “elbow bump” greeting at the Commonwealth Day service in London.

    Meanwhile, check out how other world leaders are greeting each other amidst the pandemic.

    IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank Group President David Malpass bump elbows at the end of a joint press briefing on COVID-19 in Washington, DC.
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi being welcomed by BJP president JP Nadda as he arrives to attend the BJP Board meeting at BJP HQ in New Delhi
    U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the government’s coronavirus task force, greets a woman at the Washington State Emergency Operations Center during a tour at Camp Murray near Tacoma, Washington.
  • The coronavirus test in your city

    The coronavirus test in your city

    Want to know which hospitals in your city have the Coronavirus test? Here is the list but first, if you suspect that you have symptoms, including fever, coughing, shortness of breath then call the state helpline at 1166 or your doctor.

    Private labs are charging a minimum of Rs 7,900 for each test and some public hospitals are giving the test for free. Results will be available in 48 hours.

    HOSPITALS TESTING FOR CORONA VIRUS

    KARACHI

    The helpline to call for suspected cases in Sindh is: 021-99204405, 021-99206565, 021-99203443, 021-99204405, 0316-0111712

    Public

    Civil Hospital

    Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre

    Private

    Aga Khan University Hospital

    Dow Medical College

    Hyderabad

    Liaquat Hospital

    Lahore

    Services Hospital

    Rawalpindi

    Benazir Bhutto Hospital

    Multan

    Nishtar Hospital

    Sialkot

    Allama Iqbal Memorial Hospital

    Faisalabad

    Allama Iqbal Memorial Hospital

    Allied Hospital

    Rahimyar Khan

    Sheikh Zayed Hospital

    Quetta

    Fatima Jinnah General and Chest Hospital

    Peshawar

    Muhammad Teaching Hospital

    Jinnah Teaching Hospital

    Prime Teaching Hospital

    Painless Hospital

    Khalil Hospital

    Zia Medical Complex

    Mercy Teaching Hospital

    Kuwait Teaching

    Naseer Teaching Hospital

    MSF Hospital

    Afridi Medical Complex

    Shahab Orthopedic Hospital

    Rehman Medical Institute

    North Western General Hospital

    Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital

    Akbar Medical Centre

    Abaseen Hospital

    Habib Medical Centre

    Ibrahimi Hospital

    Islamabad

    Pakistan Institute of Management (PIMS)

    Gilgit Baltistan

    Civil Hospital Hunza

    DHQ Gilgit

    DHQ Chilas

    DHQ Skardu

    PDSRU

    DHQ Karimabad

    Azad Jammu and Kashmir

    Abbas Institute Of Medical Sciences, Muzaffarabad

    Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Hospital Muzaffarabad (CMH.)

    CMH Rawalkot

    DHQ Mirpur

    DHQ Kotli

    DHQ Neelum

    DHQ Jhelum Valley

    DHQ Bagh

    DHQ Haveli

    DHQ Bhimber

    DHQ Hospital Sudhnoti

    The helpline to call for suspected cases in Sindh is: 021-99204405, 021-99206565, 021-99203443, 021-99204405, 0316-0111712

  • Win for embattled Pakistan as 64-year-old coronavirus patient recovers

    In what is being termed as a major win for the country amid reports that the new coronavirus can be fatal for the elderly, a 64-year-old infected man in Karachi has been discharged from the hospital following complete recovery, government officials have confirmed.

    Journalist Omar Qureshi had on Thursday tweeted that a 64-year-old suffering from coronavirus in Pakistan had recovered.

    The tweet had come after reports said that a second patient infected with the COVID-19 had been discharged from the hospital.

    Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab confirmed the development, saying that the 64-year-old had tested negative and sent back home.

    Provincial health officials had on Wednesday said the second coronavirus patient in Karachi was recovering and would be discharged soon if his condition improved further.

    The resident of the port city’s Kharadar neighbourhood was admitted to Civil Hospital on February 29. According to the hospital administration, further tests were conducted on Wednesday and were sent to the lab. “The patient would be discharged if the test results are negative,” the hospital administration had added.

    The family members of COVID-19 patient were also tested the day he contracted the virus. However, the results were negative.

    Earlier, the first coronavirus patient was discharged from the hospital after full recovery.

    The patient was in isolation and treatment for the past 10 days and was tested three times.

    The young patient, who is believed to have contracted the virus in the Iranian holy city of Qum, was diagnosed on February 26 and subsequently shifted to the isolation ward of a private hospital. He had travelled to the Islamic Republic in a group of 28 pilgrims.