Emirates suspends flights from country

Decision comes after Pakistani passengers test positive for coronavirus in Hong Kong

DUBAI:  

Emirates has suspended flights from Pakistan after passengers tested positive for coronavirus in Hong Kong, it said on Wednesday as the nationwide tally of Covid-19 cases surpassed 190,000 with Sindh and Punjab collectively reporting over 2,600 new patients.

The Dubai state carrier, which is operating limited services due to the coronavirus pandemic, said the temporary suspension was effective from June 24. "We are coordinating closely with various authorities and will review and implement any required additional measures to satisfy all parties before we resume services from Pakistan," a spokeswoman for Emirates told Reuters. However, the airline will continue to operate flights to Pakistan, she added.

According to Emirates, 26 passengers travelling on a flight to Hong Kong have tested positive for Covid-19.

These passengers were from Pakistan and had transited through the Dubai airport before boarding another flight for Hong Kong.

This week, South Korea's government temporarily banned most people from Pakistan and Bangladesh from entering after it recorded increases in coronavirus cases from those countries. It has also halted non-scheduled flights between South Korea.

According to the health ministry, new coronavirus cases in Pakistan have continued to decline for five consecutive days on Wednesday.

It said 3,892 cases were confirmed across the country over the past 24 hours, raising the overall count to 190,334.

The figure marked a fall of almost 3,000 from the record high of 6,895 reached slightly over a week ago on June 13. It was also the fifth day of declining cases — 6,604 on June 19, 4,951 on June 20, 4,471 on June 21, and 3,946 on June 22.

Fatalities have also decreased significantly over recent days, falling to 60 on Wednesday from the record high of 153 on June 19.

The death toll in the country now stands at 3,792, while recoveries increased by 4,283 to 77,754, raising the overall recovery ratio from 37% to 41.2%, according to the ministry’s data.

Health experts also confirmed the improving numbers in the country with over 1.15 million tests so far.

“Despite increased testing capacity, the numbers are slowly reducing and we at Khyber Medical University have also observed the declining trend,” Arshad Javaid, the university’s vice chancellor, told Anadolu Agency.

Planning Minister Asad Umar, who heads the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) – the nerve centre to synergise and articulate unified national effort against Covid-19 – had warned that infections could exceed one million by July, if daily numbers continued to rise at the same rate.

However, on June 15, the authorities identified hotspots in 20 big cities and enforced locality-based “smart lockdowns” in the high-risk areas. “The smart lockdown, apparently, has helped stem the spread of the virus to other areas,” Dr Mohammad Akram, a pulmonologist in Islamabad, said.

Separately, a sub-committee of the Parliamentary Committee on Covid-19 held an in-camera meeting chaired by Information Minister Senator Shibli Faraz.

The national health services ministry briefed the committee on the steps taken for the response to the viral outbreak.

Shibli directed the ministry to prepare profiling of the patients on the basis of age group, any other ailment and breakup of data as for as possible to better understand the spread of Covid-19.

“When more data is broken down, we will come to know new information and it will enable us to take further steps to stem the pandemic,” he said.

The committee also reiterated that the pricing of the Covid-19 tests could be brought down so that maximum patients could fall in the affordability bracket.

A serious note was taken of a news item about a Covid-19 reinfection case in the country. The ministry was directed to remain prepared for such an eventuality. The areas which have been declared hotspots must be cordoned off as per the laid down SOPs and all the stakeholders should play their role strictly. No complacency could be afforded in this regard.

The ministry was also directed to address the complaints of the general public regarding different fee structure and devise a mechanism for lowering the exorbitant charges at private hospitals.

The meeting was attended by MNAs Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Shahida Akhtar Ali, Dr Nausheen Hamid and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan among others. Agencies