Indian passengers to be strictly monitored for Covid

Neighbouring country reported 20,279 new Omicron cases in last 24 hours

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan has announced telescopic monitoring of Indian passengers arriving in the country through air or land routes amid a surge in the latest Omicron sub-variant BA-275 corona cases.

The directorate of Health Sciences issued a circular in this regard on the instructions of Health Minister Qadir Patel. Allama Iqbal International Airport (AIIP) has made foolproof arrangements for monitoring of Indian passengers.

As per instructions, monitoring of Indian passengers will be conducted at all entry points including airports, Wagah-Attari border, and Peace Corridor Kartarpur Gurdwara.

India reported 20,279 new cases in the last 24 hours along with 36 deaths due to the infection as the daily positivity rate stands at 5.29 percent.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus positivity rate has decreased from 2.96 percent to 2.74 percent across Pakistan, according to the statistics issued by the National Institute of Health (NIH) on Sunday.

According to NIH, during the past 24 hours, three more people died of Covid-19-related complications.

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During this period, 19,402 Covid-19 tests were conducted, out of which 532 came out positive. The positivity rate was thus found to be 2.74 percent, as compared to the previous day’s 2.96 percent.

According to the NIH, 179 people were in critical condition by the time the update was posted.

It is worth mentioning here that as the country reels from another upsurge in the coronavirus pandemic, this paper reported that citizens in Karachi have largely forgone the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued to curb the highly-contagious disease. These SOPs include wearing face masks, maintaining distance from others, and washing hands or using hand sanitizers to maintain protective hygiene.

Moreover, the government has recommended that people get vaccinated against the virus, but the citizens of Karachi, the city with the highest positivity rate, are largely lax about getting the protective cover through vaccines. With people casually delaying booster shots as the BA.5 variant spreads rapidly, they are becoming more and more susceptible to the virus.

The government has so far refrained from imposing another round of blanket restrictions, largely relying on the people to take protective measures in this regard. However, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday issued SOPs for the month of Muharram, advising people to wear masks and use hand sanitizers to prevent infections.

Moreover, the central command centre also issued strict instructions to conduct proper screening of people coming in from India at all entry points of the country.

With input from DNA