Pak rolls out guidelines for Eid as virus recoveries rise
62% of patients in Pakistan have recovered; over the past 20 days, there has been a 28% decrease in the number of COVID-19 patients who were placed on ventilators or needed oxygen supply: Minister
Pakistan has rolled out guidelines for the upcoming Eid Al Adha festival to curb the spread of COVID-19, an official said.
Muhammad Salman, a public health official at the National Institute of Health, said that the objective is to provide health guidelines to the general public, buyers and sellers of sacrificial animals regarding precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the infection during the festival.
According to the guidelines issued by the Health Ministry, the animal markets to be set up around the time of Eid Al Adha must adhere to the guidelines for social distancing.
Wearing masks and sanitising hands are also among the guidelines issued by the ministry.
Any person with symptoms of COVID-19 will not be allowed to enter the markets.
Local authorities across the country have been advised to encourage the trend of online buying, allocate large enough spaces away from populated areas for animal markets, and strictly ensure social distancing principles.
The guidelines also include measures to ensure continued and uninterrupted prayers for Muslims on Eid Al Adha.
People must maintain social distance by keeping a 2-metre distance between each other, and every other row should be let empty to allow for 2-metre spacing in all directions, said the guidelines, adding that every person should wear a face mask and use hand sanitizers before entering and ater exiting mosques.
The government has also asked the public to undertake minimal necessary travel and avoid general family get-togethers during the festival.
According to the latest figures from the federal government’s COVID-19 portal, 62 per cent of the coronavirus patients in Pakistan have recovered.
A total of 246,351 coronavirus cases have been reported in the country so far out of which 153,134 have recovered while 2,156 are in critical condition.
Of these, 4,042 recoveries were recorded in the last 24 hours.
Over the past 20 days, there has been a 28 per cent decrease in the number of COVID-19 patients who were placed on ventilators or needed oxygen supply, Planning Minister Asad Umar said in a tweet.
In Karachi, 2,096 members of the police force have been infected by novel coronavirus, said a spokesperson of Sindh Police.
“In last two days, 171 policemen have been infected with coronavirus,” police department said in a statement.
Since the emergence of the pandemic 16 policemen, including officers, have been martyred while performing their duty, a spokesperson said. Fourteen policemen have succumbed to the disease in Karachi and two in Hyderabad Police Range, according to the spokesman.
Presently 1,584 policemen have been under treatment, Sindh Police spokesman said.
Meanwhile, SSP Sukkur had released a bimonthly report on coronavirus cases in the police department, which had confirmed 159 positive cases of the virus in officers and other personnel in the region during two months.
“The infected officers and department staff were posted at 22 police stations of Sukkur district,” the report said.
Earlier, renowned scientist and Prime Minister’s Task Force on Science and Technology chief Dr Ataur Rahman has said the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) needs to take emergency measures regarding approval of conducting clinical trials of an internationally recognised vaccine for COVID-19 in Pakistan.
“The application for conducting clinical trials of this vaccine produced by a well acclaimed international company was submited to DRAP for approval. The clinical trials of that vaccine have been done internationally,” he said.
“We are in contact with several international companies for vaccine production ater which one of the major international companies agreed to conduct clinical trials of their vaccination in Pakistan.”
Rahman, who is also the chairman of Prime Minister’s Task Force on coronavirus, said that DRAP was expected to give approval of clinical trials of this vaccine within two weeks. “Clinical trials will be conducted in our supervision soon ater approval.”