‘No spread of UK variant in Sindh’

Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazl Pecuho said on Tuesday that there had been no transmission of the variant of Covid-19 - discovered in the United Kingdom (UK) and stated to be around 50 per cent more transmissible than the previously dominant strain - within Sindh yet.

In a statement, she maintained that the new strain of the virus was only as dangerous as its predecessor, the health minister, however, acknowledged that it was many times more transmissible.

There are chances of the new strain infecting a higher number of people, which can result in a situation more critical, she added.

"It is has high infectivity rate and it is more dangerous in that sense," Pechuho said. "But so far, it has only been detected in persons who have returned from the UK."

Confirming these details, a health department spokesperson, Atif Vighio, told The Express Tribune that the contacts of all persons found infected with the new coronavirus strain on their return from the UK had been traced and none of them were found infected.

He further stated that the samples of persons returning from the UK were being collected for coronavirus screening on a regular basis.

The Sindh government had confirmed on December 29, 2020 the first cases of the UK variant of Covid-19 in Karachi among passengers who had returned from Britain in the last 12 days, as the relevant authorities launched a gigantic exercise to trace the patients' contacts.

In a statement, the provincial health department had said that 12 samples of UK returnees were taken for genotyping, out of which six were positive and the three showed the new variant of Covid-19 virus in the first phase.

"The genotyping shows 95 per cent match of the new variant from the UK," the health departments said. The statement added that those samples will also go through another phase of genotyping.

"It will take a few more days for another genotyping," the statement read.

Later, the National Institute of Health confirmed on January 4, 2021 the presence of the UK Covid-19 variant in two people who had recently returned to Pakistan.

The United Kingdom had reported the detection of a variant of Covid-19, called B.1.1.7 in December 2020. This strain had also been detected in other countries, including Australia, South Africa, Italy and the Netherlands. The B.1.1.7 is stated to be around 50 more contagious than the previously dominant strain. However, preliminary analysis by British experts suggested that there is no evidence so far to indicate that the infection caused by this variant is more severe.

The new strain of the virus has spread to at least 31 countries so far, besides Pakistan.

'Arrangements complete'

Pechuho also announced that the Sindh government had completed the arrangements for Covid-19 vaccination, and that inoculation would be carried out in Karachi and Hyderabad in the first phase.

The provincial health minister said vaccines against the contagion would be administered across all districts of Sindh and a vaccine management system would be set up to train health workers for vaccine administering vaccines and share information about the supply and availability of vaccines.

The system will also be used for imparting training for the disposal of used vaccines and preventive measures, she added.

Pechuho said that while the Sindh government planned to devise a comprehensive policy for vaccination against the coronavirus, they had been informed that it would take more time for the federal government to supply the doses.

She recalled that earlier it was announced that vaccine would be provided to the provincial government by January 15.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2021.