Covid rapid tests return at Karachi airport

Move targets all passengers coming from China as well as Gulf countries


Sameer Mandhro/Razya Khan December 29, 2022
Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI:

After the new Covid wave in China, the Sindh government on Thursday restarted the coronavirus rapid tests of passengers coming to Karachi airport from other countries.

“Three flights arrive in Karachi from China in a week, while 40,000 rapid kits for passenger Covid tests have been provided at the Karachi airport,” Sindh Health Department focal person Dr Sohail Raza Shaikh said in a letter written to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

He mentioned that Covid test of passengers arriving from various flights in Karachi from Gulf countries will also be ensured, urging the NCOC to strictly implement wearing masks.

Separately, addressing a news conference, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho said, “The new variant could enter Pakistan [from China].”
She advised the citizens to take precautionary measures, recommending them to use masks in public places.

The minister said that her department was ready to face the situation.

“The new variant is spreading in China and we will have to take extra care,” she urged. “We do not want Covid-19 to spread again in our country,” she added. “Our people cannot afford [now] because of the prevailing economic situation.”
Azra said more than 200,000 vaccines were available in the province. She said that her department will request the WHO to provide more vaccines.

In the letter, the focal person said, the Covid vaccine was provided in the vaccination centres of Sindh, including Karachi after one month. “Due to the lack of vaccine, the centres were disabled. However, a month later, the Pfizer Covid vaccine has been provided.”

After completion of six months of the second dose, “booster dose is now being started”.

The vaccine will be delivered to all the centres of Sindh, including Karachi, in the next two days.

The NCOC and the National Institute of Health (NIH) have been recommended to begin testing inbound travellers from China for Covid-19 infections at all airports of the country.

Earlier, Reuters reported that the United States will impose mandatory Covid-19 tests on travellers from China, joining India, Italy, Japan and Taiwan in taking new measures after Beijing's decision to lift stringent zero-Covid policies.

The new policy has been attributed to the lack of information on variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and concerns that the increased number of Covid cases in China could result in the development of new variants of the virus.

Meanwhile, the NIH reported 12 new cases across Pakistan in the last 24 hours with a case positivity ratio of 0.33 per cent.

In the letter, the Sindh government alerted authorities of the “resurgence of coronavirus related infection-related morbidities and mortalities in global proximities”, requesting them to take preventive measures to control the spread of the virus.

The provincial government suggested the NCOC impose mandatory testing for “all inbound passengers on flights from China" at airports. “In case of positive results, the person shall be quarantined until they become negative for contagion,” the letter stated, adding that serology tests of confirmed positive cases should be carried out.

“A huge number of false negative cases of new Covid-19 variant are also being reported so any person showing symptoms similar to the virus should be isolated and tested on PCR for confirmation,” it added.

In addition, the Sindh government suggested the establishment of isolation centres, mandatory administration of booster shots as well as discouragement of large public gatherings. It also recommended that for all domestic and international travel, vaccination against Covid-19 be declared mandatory.

Meanwhile, Dr Zafar Mehdi, the focal person for Covid at the Karachi airport, confirmed that Covid tests of passengers at the airport had been started.

He said that on the instructions of the provincial health minister, 40,000 kits had been provided for the test of passengers arriving at the Karachi airport. “There is a 24-hour test facility at the airport.”

Meanwhile, according to sources, Covid tests will also be started for passengers coming to Karachi from Gulf countries from Friday.

Addressing a meeting of the NCOC at the NIH on Thursday, Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Abdul Qadir Patel said that the government had strengthened the role of Border and Health Services in Pakistan to deal with any sub-variant of Covid-19.

The minister said that there was a surveillance system at all entry points of the country, including airports.

He said that the situation was completely under control and asked the general public to avoid listening to rumours. He added that the coronavirus case positivity ratio was just 0.3 to 0.5 per cent in the country while 90 per cent of the country’s population already got the COVID-19 vaccine.

“There will be rapid tests and screening of passengers at all airports.”

He said that an efficient system with a proper management team was fully functional in the country to remain vigilant and was ready to make an emergency plan to deal with any sub-variant of Covid-19.

He said that Border and Health Services Pakistan was ensuring the implementation of international health regulations.

He added further steps were being taken to strengthen the role of Border and Health Services Pakistan.

He said that in case of any untoward situation, the health system was fully prepared to deal with any sub-variant of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 including BF.7 in the country.

Alarm as China eases curbs

China's official death toll of 5,246 since the pandemic began compares with more than one million deaths in the United States. Chinese-ruled Hong Kong has reported more than 11,000 deaths.

The United States issued a travel alert on Wednesday advising Americans to "reconsider travel to China, Hong Kong, and Macau" and citing "reports that the healthcare system is overwhelmed" along with the risk of new variants.

The main airport in the Italian city of Milan started testing passengers arriving from Beijing and Shanghai on Dec 26 and found that almost half of them were infected.

China has rejected criticism of its statistics as groundless and politically motivated attempts to smear its policies. It has also played down the risk of new variants, saying it expects mutations to be more virulent but less severe.

Omicron was still the dominant strain in China, Chinese health officials said this week.

Australia, Germany, Thailand and others said they would not impose additional restrictions on travel for now.

For its part, China, whose borders have been all but shut to foreigners since early 2020, will stop requiring inbound travellers to go into quarantine from Jan 8.

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