Chinese developed COVID-19 vaccine shows positive results

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

China has announced that its inactivated COVID19 vaccine has moved to the second phase of its clinical trials after having shown highly positive signs s far. 

The People’s Daily, in its report published on April 24, broke the news while referring to the development of the much talked about vaccine. 

It was revealed that as many as 96 persons in three age groups had been injected the vaccine in first phase of clinical trial as of April 23 and the vaccine had shown good safety so far, the newspaper said.

China sends consignment of medical supplies to US

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Unperturbed by what the American or western media may be saying about China and its role in containing and finally overcoming coronavirus (COVID-19), the Chinese leadership has maintained ethos for humanity for all as they have dispatched a huge volume of medical supplies to United States of America (USA) to help mitigate from suffering due to the deadly virus. 

While the US and the West have been found engaged in a blame game against China, the Chinese authorities, on the contrary, has continued to be compassionate and caring for humans all over the world. 

On April 24, a plane, carrying nearly 20 tons of medical supplies, took off from Wuhan, once the hardest hit by COVID-19, for New York. It was China Southern Airlines’ first passenger flight that was used for delivering cargo from Hubie province. 

Meanwhile China has reported zero new COVID19 deaths for 10 consecutive days as of April 24, while the number of patients in severe conditions was on a downward trend, the PD reported quoting National Health Commission (NHC) sources.

Acquitted Pakistani businessman contemplates moving court to counter Turkish complainant

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Umar Farooq Zahoor, a Pakistani businessman, born in Norway and currently residing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is consulting lawyers to move legally against a Turkish businessman, Erhan Kanioglulari, who had charged him of usurping his money and got a false case registered against him at Karachi’s Artillery Maidan Police Station. 

The Turkish national had also moved the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Umar Farooq. The bureau conducted an inquiry into the complaint and later a NAB court exonerated the Pakistani businessman of all charges. 

Earlier the session court in Karachi, on March 31, 2008, had also acquitted Umar Farooq after hearing the case submitted by the Atillery Maidan Police Station as per FIR No. 97 of 2004 under section 506 PPC. The session court had acquitted the businessmen under Section 265 K CRPC in Sessions Case Number 546 of 2004. 

According to Umar Farooq, the Turkish man, by lodging a false report against him, had put the public servants to use their lawful powers to the enquiry of the applicant. 

He alleged that the offence of giving false information to the police constitutes as offence punishable under Section 182 PPC and the accused had committed a cognizable offence punishable under Section 389 PPC. 

He stated that he was pursuing civil remedy in the High Court for damages in connection with malicious prosecution and blackmailing done by Erhan Kanioglulari against him not only at Artillery Maidan Police Station but also filing a false application to the NAB authorities. 

Umar Farooq has further asked his lawyer that to keep the record straight and to wash away the bad impression created in the public domain as his name having appeared on websites should be get removed with immediate effect.

Trump may extend coronavirus social distancing guidelines

By Syed Sajid Aziz in USA
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The United States (US) President, Donald Trump, on April 24, has hinted that his administration may extend its national social distancing guidelines until early in the summer or later. 

“We may, and we may go beyond that. We’re going to have to see where it is. I think people are going to know just out of common sense. At some point, we won’t have to do that. But until we feel safe, we’re going to be extending,” Trump observed at the White House press briefing. 

Trump’s remarks have come just a day after multiple White House apprehended that the US might still be fighting with the deadly coronavirus by the fall and winter, when the flu season kicks up. 

The coronavirus guidelines had first been shared in the middle of March, having been extended to the end of April. There are strong enough indications now that the federal guidance might be extended once more even though Trump and state leaders looked ahead to reopening the economy, having been devastated by the coronavirus and the preventive measures taken to contain it. 

Although the federal guidelines were not legally binding on states, many of whom implemented their own social distancing rules, they recommend severe restrictions on normal behaviors, such as eating out at restaurants and socializing in groups.

Lady doctors demand strict lockdown enforcement

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Taking the cue from their male colleagues in the profession, a group of female medical practitioners, on April 24, said that hospitals providing care to the coronavirus patients were not in a position to admit more such patients in view of shortage of intensive care units including the ventilators and relevant staff. 

Speaking at a media briefing at the Karachi Press Club, they said that the diseases crisis was overwhelming and solution lied in the lockdown, which needed to be strictly enforced by the government and seriously followed by the citizens. The speakers included Dr Safia Zafar, Dr Nusrat Shah, Dr Nighat Shah, Dr Razia Korejo and others. 

They reckoned that it was government’s prime duty to protect its citizen and implement preventive measures everywhere from markets to departmental stores and from playgrounds to religious centres. 

“All over the world it is seen that only these countries are free of disease or have very few patients who strictly did the lockdown from the discovery of first case in the community,” they remarked.

They pleaded that that the doctors were under enormous pressure as cases were on increase in Karachi and rest of the country. “Sometimes the doctors have to work without protective gears and other intensive care facilities while providing care to severely ill coronavirus patients,” they added and urged the people to listen to them and stay at home to avert the disease. 

“It’s very heartbreaking that some of our doctors, nurses and health workers have lost their lives and every day we go to hospital with fear of having positive test and thinking that some of us will die,” they regretted.

Coronavirus Update: Karachi endures lowest recovery rate

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Sindh government data regarding COVID-19 outbreak in the province have revealed that only 307 (11.40%), out of 2,692 patients have recovered from the disease till April 24 in Karachi. 

To some observers, this recovery pace of COVID-19 patients at Karachi reflected two factors. Ether many of them were taking long time for recovery due to their poor medical conditions or their physicians took considerable time before starting any treatment in their cases while a majority of them were young patients.

They further remarked that the time taken for recovery in most of the cases was seven days, which could be prolonged to over one month depending on the severity of symptoms and other comorbidities and age of the patients. 

“The time in which a patient recovers after contracting the infection depends on how the disease progressed.” 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that about 80 per cent of COVID-19 cases globally were mild, which meant that these cases, which usually involved fever, cough and perhaps shortness of breath, recovered without much of an issue. 

“The younger, the patient with no other medical complaints, the greater could be the chances of quick recovery while some patients may not even be aware that they are sick.” 

A comparative study of the daily official reports pertaining to coronavirus suggested that there were a total 417 people having contracted the virus in Karachi, out of which 63 (15%) were declared recovered by April 5. Another district of Sindh housing major Covid-19 patients was Sukkur, where the rate of recovery was 21% on the same date. 

The Sindh Health department data released on April 24 revealed that the number of patients suffering corona was 243 at Hyderabad, 380 at Sukkur and 31 at Tando Mohammad Khan, out of which 161 (66%) recovered at Hyderabad, 279 (73%) at Sukkur and 15 (48%) at Tando Mohammad Khan. 

However, a source privy to the tracking and testing of coronavirus patients in the city doubted that the official data did not account the patients who have been receiving treatment at homes. 

In the meantime in his routine video message, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on April 24 said that coronavirus had claimed two more lives, raising the infection death toll in the province to 75, while 274 new cases were confirmed on the day, pushing Sindh’s coronavirus tally to 3,945. 

According to him, as many as 49 among the infected persons were in critical condition, including 15 those put on ventilators. 

He said that the total number of patients having recovered from the diseases in Sindh rose to 772 on April 24 as another 42 patients were sent home after recovery. Of the remaining under-treatment patients 1,893 have been isolated at home, 767 in isolation centres and 440 at hospitals, the Chief Minister stated. 

The Sindh Health department summary said that two coronavirus patients died at Karachi, a woman aged 85 years and a man aged 60 years, while 243 new COVID-19 cases were detected at Karachi. 

The other districts that reported new cases included Sukkur (14) Hyderabad (8) and Larkana (3), followed by Badin, Sanghar, Tando Allahyar, Khairpur, Kamber Shahdadkot and Umerkot which reported a case each. The overall coronavirus infection rate came as 11% for Sindh.

US President agrees to send ventilators to Pakistan, other developing countries

By Syed Sajid Aziz in USA
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The United States (US) President, Donald Trump, on April 24, announced to send ventilators to three developing more countries after having promised to do the same to as many countries, including Pakistan.

In a series of tweets, Trump pledged ventilators for Ecuador, El Salvador and Indonesia after having committed the life-saving breathing equipment to Pakistan, Mexico and Russia to let these countries combat coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

The US President had also expressed his willingness to supply ventilators to three European countries, Italy, Spain and the UK, where the pandemic had wreaked havoc during the last few weeks. 

There were also reports suggesting that the US officials were preparing to ship ventilators to Africa, in an effort to counter Chinese diplomatic initiatives. 

President Trump earlier disclosed that Pakistan had asked him to send ventilators for the victims of the coronavirus and he has agreed to do so. 

“Spoke with Pakistan; they would like to have some ventilators. We’re going to get them some ventilators,” he said, adding that all the leaders, he spoke to, were indebted to the US for solving the ventilator problem.