Over 3,000 new cases recorded in single day
SCHOOLS TO REOPEN AS CLINICAL TRIALS ALMOST COMPLETE
Pakistan yesterday reported 3,097 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours while 46 lost their lives to the deadly virus in the same period. The total number of deaths now stands at 10,818.
The total number of infections are reported to be 511,921 since the outbreak of virus in the country in February last year.
According to the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) this is first time in a period of three weeks that the country’s single-day infections have crossed the 3,000 mark. Last time the country reported over 3,000 cases on December 18, 2020.
According to the National Health Ministry’s website, Pakistan’s active cases are still over 33,000 which is an alarming figure while 2,410 are in critical condition.
Pakistan has almost concluded the phase three of the human trials of a Chinese vaccine and the health authorities are confident that tests of Sinopharm vaccine will be completed in a day or two as the vaccine was showing promising results.
Vaccine testing
Pakistan is one of the seven countries testing the Chinese vaccine and the only hurdle in import of Sinopharm will be removed with its Phase-I trial in Karachi reaching the final stage.
In a separate development, the federal government has decided to implement the Medical Teaching Institutions (MTI) Ordinance in three major hospitals of Sindh and one major hospital of Punjab after it had been introduced in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).
As Pakistan is set to open schools from Monday, Education Minister of Punjab has asked the parents to send their children to schools
Punjab Minister for School Education Murad Raas has called upon the parents to send their children back to school on the scheduled dates for phasewise reopening of educational institutions.
In a tweet, he has assured them Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will be implemented.