ISLAMABAD: The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 12,804 lives and infected 577,482 people in the country during the last one year as Pakistan’s fight against coronavirus began exactly one year ago on February 26, 2020.
The Covid-19 virus was first detected shortly after 22-year-old Yahya Jaffery arrived from Iran. At the temperature screening gates at Karachi’s international airport, Jaffery was allowed to pass through despite showing early signs of the disease. Little did he know that he would end up being the first carrier of the Covid-19 virus in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, 32 people died of Covid-19 during the past 24 hours, surging the overall death toll to 12,804, said the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday.
According to the NCOC, 1,541 fresh cases were reported during the aforementioned period, lifting the national tally of cases to 577,482. As many as 2,505 more patients recovered from the virus and so far 542,393 people have recovered from the deadly disease.
The total count of active cases is 22,285, and 1,558 patients were stated to be in critical condition.
According to the NCOC, a total of 41,849 tests were conducted across the country during the past 24 hours, while 8,873,741 samples have been tested so far.
Sindh reported at least 322 new coronavirus cases during the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 257,729. According to Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, 13 more people succumbed to the deadly virus as the death toll surged to 4,335. He further said that 273 patients recovered overnight, taking the total to 241,256.
At least 748 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Punjab during the past 24 hours, taking the provincial tally to 170,222.
According to Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Care Department, at least 15 more patients succumbed to the pandemic as the total reached 5,323. The department added that at least 159,295 patients had recovered from the deadly virus as of yet.
The virus picked up speed again over the past week in every part of the world except Africa, after a month in which new Covid-19 cases fell by half, according to AFP data.
Here is the state of play worldwide:
CASES UP SIX PER CENT:
The number of new daily cases globally increased by six per cent over the past week to 384,200.
It is a reversal after the unprecedented 51 per cent plunge recorded from mid-January to mid-February, according to an AFP tally to Thursday.
New cases are now at a level last seen in mid-October.
The number of confirmed cases only reflects a fraction of the actual number of infections, as different countries have different counting practices and levels of testing.
AFRICAN EXCEPTION:
Africa is the only continent to see a slowdown, with 14 per cent fewer new cases.
All the other regions saw a pick up: 10 per cent in Europe, eight per cent in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, five per cent in the Middle East and one per cent in the United States and Canada.
In Oceania, the number of infections more than tripled, but there are nevertheless only 47 cases a day.
BIGGEST SPIKES:
On a country basis, Estonia saw the biggest increase with 82 per cent more infections among the countries that recorded more than 1,000 daily cases.
Hungary followed with 69 per cent more (or 2,900 cases); Jordan with 59 per cent more (3,400 cases); Serbia 59 per cent more (3,000 cases) and Ecuador 48 per cent more (1,600 cases).
STEEPEST FALLS:
For the third week in a row, the biggest decrease took place in Portugal, which recorded 38 per cent fewer cases.
For several weeks this year, Portugal had the highest number of cases per capita in the world, but the figure has dramatically fallen for four weeks thanks to a lockdown that started on January 15.
Spain follows with 27 per cent fewer cases, then South Africa (-25 per cent), Israel (-22 per cent) and Japan (-22 per cent).
US, MOST DEATH AND CASES:
The US remains the country that recorded the greatest number of infections over the past week with 73,700 new daily cases, an increase of one per cent.
Brazil followed with 51,400, an increase of 14 per cent, France (21,500, a 16 per cent jump) and Italy (14,700, or 26 per cent more).
On a per-capita basis, the Czech Republic remains the country with the highest number of infections, at 700 cases per 100,000 people.
The US also recorded the greatest number of deaths over the past week, with an average of 2,156 per day, ahead of Brazil (1,149), Mexico (798), Russia (421) and the United Kingdom (383).
WHO CALLS FOR ACTION:
With one in 10 people still feeling ill 12 weeks after having Covid-19, authorities must do more to support them, a UN-backed policy brief issued on Thursday argues.
The document summarises what is known so far about “long Covid” and how countries are addressing the condition, whose troubling symptoms include severe fatigue and increased damage to the heart, lungs and brain.
The policy brief was published by the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Regional Office for Europe and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.
Dr Hans Kluge, WHO’s Regional Director, said long Covid is an extra cause for concern amid the pandemic, which has already caused immense suffering.
“It’s important that patients reporting with symptoms of long Covid are included as part of the Covid-19 response to mitigate some of the longer-term health impacts of the pandemic”, he said.
Long Covid is not fully understood, but available data indicate that roughly a quarter of people suffer from symptoms four to five weeks after testing positive for the coronavirus, and about one in 10 still experiences symptoms after 12 weeks.
Patients, who include medical professionals, struggle to be taken seriously. They report feeling stigmatized and unable to get a diagnosis, receiving “disjointed” care, while also facing problems in accessing health and disability benefits.
The policy brief highlights areas for action, including developing “new care pathways”, creating appropriate services, and tackling wider consequences such as employment rights, sick pay policies and access to disability benefits.
Patient registers and other surveillance measures should be implemented, and research into post-Covid conditions must be conducted in collaboration with patients and care providers.
“Long Covid has demonstrated the importance of involving patients in research”, said Dr Selina Rajan, lead author of the policy brief.
“However, much remains to be understood about the long-term, multi-system consequences of Covid-19 infections in children and adults, and the interventions required to treat them.”
