Pakistan, China deliberate on transfer of prisoners

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) has held deliberations in Beijing on a treaty on the transfer of convicted criminals between China and Pakistan.

Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the meeting, the Chinese media reported. It was decided to submit the above draft to the ongoing NPC Standing Committee for review. 

It may be recalled that both sides had held initial deliberations in August 2014 in Islamabad and reached consensus on a series of provisions. 

In November 2018, Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Chinese counterpart, Li Keqiang, witnessed the signing ceremony between Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and China’s Justice Minister, Fu Zhenghua in Beijing. 

The treaty is considered as an important legal document on judicial assistance which has laid a legal foundation for China and Pakistan to strengthen cooperation on the transfer of sentenced persons. 

Once the treaty comes into force, the two countries would be able to transfer sentenced persons back to their own country. The bilateral treaty will come into force after being endorsed by top legislature of the two countries.

China’s postponed iconic sessions in May

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

This year's two sessions, China's most important annual political event, will be held in late May in Beijing, an official release issued on April 29, declared.

The third plenary session of the 13th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, will kick off on May 22, while the third plenary session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the nation's top political advisory body, will start on May 21, according to the information in the official handout. 

The term ‘two sessions’ refers to the annual full session of the NPC, which customarily begins on March 5, and the annual plenary session of the CPPCC National Committee, which was originally scheduled to open on March 3. 

Both the sessions this year were postponed in February, as the nation was focusing on fighting the novel coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19) at the time. 

Every year during the two sessions, about 3,000 national legislators and 2,150 national political advisers travel to Beijing to review work reports of the central government, top judicial authorities and the annual budget, and to bring voices from the grassroots and different social sectors to the central leadership.

Coronavirus Update: Deaths mounting in Sindh

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Sindh, which had been able to see its overall COVID-19 infection rates stable in the recent days, witnessed no reduction in its prevailing rate of relevant deaths as the health authorities here confirmed on April 28 that another seven virus infected patients, including three females, lost their lives at Karachi and two districts of the province.

Contrary to the overall COVID-19 death rate of 2.13% in the country, Sindh had its overall death rate as 1.73%, with a total 92 deaths among 5,291 infection cases on April 28. It had a death rate of 2.20% on April 20, which decreased to 1.71 by April 27, but increased to 1.73% again on April 28.

Apart from the overall death rate, keen observers noted that Sindh showed the death rate on average 1.91% in seven days, from April 21 to 27, when 24 people died of COVID-19 in hospitals and homes.

The disturbing fact is that Sindh reported seven deaths on April 28 again, said an analyst, commenting that such deaths, mostly including the senior citizens, obviously made one feel that hospitals were upset due to continued presentation of coronavirus cases.

“They were yet needed to improve their patient filtration points for a timely detection and treatment of patients and strengthen their critical care units and staffs,” the expert commented.

On the other hand Sindh had an the overall infection rate of 11.01% among 48,061 suspected people on April 28, against the country’s overall rate of 9.29% among 157,223 people who were tested for COVID-19 across the country.

Earlier, the provincial rate ranged from 10.83% to 11.39% during a period of April 21 to 27. On April 28, as many as 335 new people were detected infected by coronavirus after testing 4,112 tests across the province.

According to the health department data updated on April 28 at 8 am, 267 new cases were found in Karachi, taking the city’s tally of infected people to 3,791. New cases were also reported from Hyderabad (17), Jacobabad (10), Sukkur (7), Shikarpur (7), Tando Mohammad Khan (6), Shaheed Benazirabad (5), Larkana (5), Sanghar (5), Dadu (3), Tharparkar (2) and Naushehro Feroze (1). 

According to the health department, four COVID-19 patients died at Karachi, two females aged 66 and 24 years, respectively, and two males aged 69 and 56 years, receptively. Sukkur reported deaths of two men aged 66 and 56 years, respectively while Matiari, where for the first time two infected cases were reported on April 26, declared its first death due to coronavirus, a woman aged 66 years. 

In the meantime, another 38 people recovered from the disease, pushing the total number of people recovered to 963 in the province.

Australia eases lockdown restrictions

Pakistan News & Features Services

Australia, a paradise on earth, has reopened as the country has relaxed coronavirus restrictions after a drop in the death rate. The states of Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia have eased up the restrictions while New South Wales and Victoria, the two biggest states having enforced the strictest lockdown, don’t plan on lifting these measures until mid-May. 

Australia, into its second month of COVID-19 lockdowns with every state enforcing physical distancing law slightly differently, has witnessed consistently low numbers of new infections leading to the relaxation in a few rules. 

However, the Australians, for most part, are still required to stay at home unless they have crucial work, shopping or exercise reasons as the leaders reckoned that there was no fast and easy way to return to a ‘pre-coronavirus’ norm. 

The Western Australians now have been allowed the freedom to enjoy picnics in the park, fishing, boating, hiking and camping as they brought about changing rules of coronavirus lockdown. 

Western Australia and South Australia have also expanded the national two person limit on gatherings to 10 people but meet-ups still have to be for essential reasons like weddings which were previously restricted to five people. 

In states like Queensland, people can now go shopping again for fashion, have a picnic in the park or go for a swim at the beach. The residents can do all of these activities as long as it is within a 40 minute drive from home. The beaches were never closed but people can now lie on the sand in groups of 10 as long as they observe social distancing.

New Zealand announce elimination of COVID-19

Pakistan News & Features Services

New Zealand, one of the most disciplined nations on earth, has made the welcome announcement of having eliminated coronavirus (COVID-19) from the country as the restrictions have been eased from level four to level three with new cases down to single figures.

The level three ruling went into effect on April 28, which allowed businesses to partially reopen with some restrictions, including requiring physical distancing of two meters outside of home. 

New Zealand's Director General of Health, Ashley Bloomfield, had declared on April 27 that with just one new case, four probable cases and one new death they had the confidence of having achieved their goal of elimination. 

"Our goal is elimination. And again, that doesn't mean eradication but it means we get down to a small number of cases so that we are able to stamp out any cases and any outbreak that might come out," he added. 

New Zealand's popular Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, however, warned that the country needed to remain alert even though coronavirus was currently eliminated. 

"So as we have said elimination means we may well reach zero but we may well then have small numbers of cases coming up again, that doesn't mean we have failed, it just means that we are in the position to have that zero tolerance approach to have a very aggressive management of those cases and keep those numbers low and fading out again," she remarked. 

"It's been nearly five weeks living and working in ways that just two months ago would have been impossible. But we did. And we have done it together," the Prime Minister observed while praising the efforts of New Zealanders.

PLISJ beats lockdown to arrive in time yet again

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Although the ongoing lockdown, being enforced to prevent coronavirus (COVID-19) from spreading, has brought life to a virtual standstill throughout the country, only a handful of organizations and institutions have managed to remain afloat in the prevailing situation. 

Quite remarkably, the Pakistan Library and Information Science Journal (PLISJ), a quarterly publication of the Library Promotion Bureau (LPB), Karachi, has succeeded in bringing out its April-June 2020 issue (Volume 51, Number 2) in time once more.

The PLISJ Chief Editor, Prof Dr Ghani-ul-Akram Sabzwari, who is also the Founder President of the LPB, has to be credited for accomplishing this gigantic task in the most challenging of situations.  

Having stayed back in Pakistan, instead of returning to North Amercia where he normally spent his summers, he has kept his associates motivated even during the lockdown period with his dossiers via email. 

A former chairperson of the University of Karachi’s Library and Information Science department, he has continued to be the motivation as well as the binding force in keeping the bureau alive, with the help of his able and trustworthy lieutenant, Prof Dr Nasim Fatima.

Lahore, Karachi worst affected by COVID-19

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Karachi, with 3,524 cases of COVID-19, on April 26 was second to Lahore in the context of the virus that has spread across the country, infecting 13,669 people so far (till April 27) and claiming 285 lives, according to a daily situation report compiled by an international health agency.

The report updated on April 27 at 9 am revealed that Lahore was on top of 10 districts with highest burden of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the country. 

Lahore reported the highest percentage of cases, with 23%, followed by Karachi (13%), Peshawar (6%), Rawalpindi (5%) and other districts. 

Karachi recorded its and country’s first confirmed case of coronavirus on April 26, while the first case of coronavirus was reported in Lahore on March 14. 

According to the record, since April 22 onwards the number of new coronavirus cases remained above 600 per day. 

It further reveled that there were 376 health workers infected with coronavirus in the country: Doctors-181 (48%), Paramedics and others 140 (37%) and nurses-55 (15%). As many as 132 health workers were hospitalized, while 152 were in home isolation and 87 have recovered from the diseases and five have died.

Chinese funded enterprises relief goods arrive Islamabad

By Masood Sattar Khan 
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The China state-owned airlines plane carrying consignments of relief goods from China landed at Islamabad on the evening of April 26. 

The Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Yao Jing, attended the handing over ceremony of the Chinese-funded enterprises' anti-epidemic materials at the Islamabad International Airport.

Pakistan’s Energy Minister, Omar Ayub, Chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Affairs Bureau, Asim Bajiwa, Wang Zhihua, Business Counsellor and heads of Chinese companies were present on the occasion, according to the Chinese Embassy sources. 

Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Yao said that since the outbreak of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic in Pakistan, the Chinese government, enterprises and all sectors of the society have supported the Pakistani government and people in combating the pandemic through donations, materials and medical expert teams.

“China will continue to stand firmly with Pakistan and take more active measures to support Pakistan in responding to the epidemic,” he assured.

“It is believed that with the joint efforts of China and Pakistan, Pakistan will surely overcome the epidemic and the foundation of the community of shared destiny between China and Pakistan will be more solid,” the Ambassador hoped.  

Energy Minister, Omar Ayub, expressed his sincere gratitude to the Chinese government and enterprises for their generous assistance, saying that China has been very effective in fighting the new crown epidemic and is a model for the international community to learn. 

Pakistan too, he added, was trying to learn from China's experience and fight the epidemic with full might.

Coronavirus Update: Record 383 new cases found in Sindh

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Sindh witnessed over 33% increase in its daily tally of new coronavirus cases, with three new deaths in Karachi, while the virus reached to Matiari, the last COVID-19 free district of the province, on April 26. 

Sindh recorded 383 new coronavirus positive cases, including 340 detected at Karachi, during the last 24 hours ending at 8am on April 26, against 287 of the previous day. 

The April 26 figure was all days’ highest number of cases reported in Sindh since February 26 when the first case of COVID-19 was detected here. Earlier, the highest increase in the new cases was recorded on April 16 when Sindh presented 340 cases. Sindh’s overall COVID-19 infection rate came as 11.19% on April 26.

Matiari was included in the official list of coronavirus reporting districts of Sindh with two new positive cases. It took the virus exact two months to reach Matiari from Karachi. 

In view of the increase in number of cases, the Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, chairing a meeting on April 26, called for further development of isolation centres and field hospitals in Karachi. 

“The pace of new cases is significantly high and as such efforts should be made to meet the related demands, including increase in the capacity of Karachi Expo isolation centre, establishment of field hospitals at Dalmia Ground, Darul Ehsas on Manghopir Road and in the convention centre of the PAF Museum,” he observed. 

As per the Sindh health department reports, three men aged 52, 55 and 74 years, respectively lost their lives due to coronavirus infection at one government and one private hospital, during the last 24 hours. The 52-year-old patient also had diabetes, while the 55-years-old patient had an autoimmune disease, having developed when the immune system mistakenly attacked the body's own healthy tissue. 

According to the corona-summary issued by the department, 340 new cases were reported in Karachi, while another 17 in Sukkur, followed by Hyderabad (7), Naushshero Feroze (4) and other districts. 

While the virus has spread in all districts, the breakdown of total reported cases was: Karachi-six districts (3,249), Sukkur (409), Hyderabad (263), Khairpur (169), Ghotki with no new case (124), Larkana (108), Shaheed Benazirabad reporting no new case (84), Tando Mohammad Khan with no new case (32), Sanghar (26), Naushehro Feroze (23), Shikarpur with no new case (17), Dadu (15), Jamshoro (15), Badin (15), Jacobabad with no new case (11), Sujawal with no new case (9), Mirpurkhas (9), Kashmore with no news case (9), Tando Allahyar (8), Thatta (6), Umerkot with no new case (4), Tharparkar with no new case (4), Kamber Shahdadkot with no new case (4) and Matiari (2). 

According to the official updates, in all 41,216 people have been tested for coronavirus across the province, out of which 4,615, including 3,249 at Karachi, tested positives, while the death toll remained 81 across the province so far. 

In the meantime, according to sources in health circles, the emergency section of the KMC-run Abbasi Shaheed Hospital was closed for 24 hours on April 26 to carry out fumigation there, following a report that a doctor of the hospital had tested positive for coronavirus the previous day.

Turkish mosque sets example by distributing groceries among COVID-19 victims

Pakistan News & Features Services

A mosque in the Turkish city of Istanbul has set a unique example of social service by setting up a supermarket of sorts at its premises from where the needy persons, hit hard by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, could come over to collect the grocery items of their choice without paying anything.

The management of Dedeman mosque in the Sariyer district has placed the commonly consumed items like rice, flour, bread, pasta, oil, biscuits, milk and eggs at the racks near its entrance and the setting resembles to that of supermarket. But unlike the supermarket, everything here is available free of cost for the needy persons. 

The philanthropists and resourceful persons are being encouraged to donate the goods at the mosque in order to facilitate larger pool of people to receive them. The sign at the mosque’s window says that anyone can leave there something and those in need can take anything. 

It has been reported that this idea was a brainchild of the 33-year-old imam of the mosque, Abdul Samet Cakir, who was eager to reach out people in need via the place of worship after Turkey had suspended mass prayers in mosques until the risk of outbreak was over. Its major cities, including Istanbul, have been under lockdown. 

The imam has derived the inspiration by a donation culture in the Ottoman period known as ‘charity stone’ in which a small pillar stone was erected at certain locations of the city to connect rich people with the poor. The practice was aimed at giving charity in a dignified manner without offending the needy people.

Suspended shopping revive hard-hit Italy

Pakistan News & Features Services

Italy has been among the hardest hit countries by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic where over 195,000 people have been infected, and more tragically, as many as 26,384 persons have perished. 

The catastrophe has caused huge damage to their economy as more than two million businesses are reported to have been affected, leaving one out of two workers without income. 

But Italy, being a great country, is preparing to come out to regain its glories. The Italians are engaged in putting a new twist on an old custom to help the needy and restart the economy. 

Piazza San Giovanni della Malva in Rome was known to echo with the noise of crowded cafes and restaurants. But the only business open now is a grocery shop, Er Cimotto, which is so small in size that social distancing forces customers to order through the window. 

Now-a-days the shoppers ask some money to be added to their bill for what's called la spesa sospesa ‘suspended shopping.’ The concept derives from the century-old Neapolitan tradition of ‘suspended coffee when a customer in a cafe pays in advance for someone who can't afford it. 

Shop owner Michela Buccilli remarked that suspended coffee has been replaced with suspended grocery shopping. "The customer who has something leaves something for those who don't," she said.  

The store usually doubles the amount donated and provides food that does not spoil fast, such as pasta and canned goods, to a local aid group, the Sant Egidio Community which distributes it to the needy. 

Suspended shopping is an act of charity in which the donor doesn't show off and the recipient doesn't have to show gratitude. With Italy's economy in suspension, the custom is being broadened with a view to the future. 

Puntarella Rossa, a website for foodies, recently launched il calice sospeso, the suspended wine glass, an initiative to help Rome's wine bars in shutdown. Since April 1, more than 150 customers have paid for wine-in-waiting at some 30 wine bars. 

Manuela Mazzotta, who runs a hair salon and wedding planning business, has come up with another new initiative. With her businesses on hold, she started a Facebook page on March 20 with the hashtag #AdottaUnNegozio 'adopt a shop.'

"The customer buys a gift card now, when shops are shut down. That helps us owners pay the rent or utility bills and tide us over until the reopening. It put us in a better mood than our current sense of desperation,” she was quoted as saying. 

Paying for something now and getting it after lockdown is one way to help shopkeepers from going bankrupt and at the end of the virus tunnel, return to business as usual, hopefully soon.

Artists stage protest in Badin

By Masood Sattar Khan 
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The local artists of Badin, a town of Sindh, staged a protest demonstration against the alleged nepotism in distribution of ration. 

They protested in front of the Tando Bago Press Club for what described as favouritism and nepotism in ration distribution. 

Quite a few popular area artists, including singers, drum beaters, flute players and others, held the protest that was being led by renowned poet and singer Darhoon Dukhayal and others. They chanted slogans against unjust distribution of relief items among the people. 

Talking to media on the occasion, the protestors claimed to have been deprived of assistance amid persisting lockdown in the city which had caused their unemployment and their families faced enormous trouble in making ends meet. 

Stating they were fighting hard for economic survival, they expressed bitter disappointment with the government officers in their town. 

“We had rushed to the Assistant Commissioner of Tando Bago for provision of ration but he paid no heed as such and we were disappointed with his attitude,” they revealed while appealing to the high ups for resolving their problems.

Chinese developed COVID-19 vaccine shows positive results

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

China has announced that its inactivated COVID19 vaccine has moved to the second phase of its clinical trials after having shown highly positive signs s far. 

The People’s Daily, in its report published on April 24, broke the news while referring to the development of the much talked about vaccine. 

It was revealed that as many as 96 persons in three age groups had been injected the vaccine in first phase of clinical trial as of April 23 and the vaccine had shown good safety so far, the newspaper said.

China sends consignment of medical supplies to US

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Unperturbed by what the American or western media may be saying about China and its role in containing and finally overcoming coronavirus (COVID-19), the Chinese leadership has maintained ethos for humanity for all as they have dispatched a huge volume of medical supplies to United States of America (USA) to help mitigate from suffering due to the deadly virus. 

While the US and the West have been found engaged in a blame game against China, the Chinese authorities, on the contrary, has continued to be compassionate and caring for humans all over the world. 

On April 24, a plane, carrying nearly 20 tons of medical supplies, took off from Wuhan, once the hardest hit by COVID-19, for New York. It was China Southern Airlines’ first passenger flight that was used for delivering cargo from Hubie province. 

Meanwhile China has reported zero new COVID19 deaths for 10 consecutive days as of April 24, while the number of patients in severe conditions was on a downward trend, the PD reported quoting National Health Commission (NHC) sources.

Acquitted Pakistani businessman contemplates moving court to counter Turkish complainant

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Umar Farooq Zahoor, a Pakistani businessman, born in Norway and currently residing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is consulting lawyers to move legally against a Turkish businessman, Erhan Kanioglulari, who had charged him of usurping his money and got a false case registered against him at Karachi’s Artillery Maidan Police Station. 

The Turkish national had also moved the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against Umar Farooq. The bureau conducted an inquiry into the complaint and later a NAB court exonerated the Pakistani businessman of all charges. 

Earlier the session court in Karachi, on March 31, 2008, had also acquitted Umar Farooq after hearing the case submitted by the Atillery Maidan Police Station as per FIR No. 97 of 2004 under section 506 PPC. The session court had acquitted the businessmen under Section 265 K CRPC in Sessions Case Number 546 of 2004. 

According to Umar Farooq, the Turkish man, by lodging a false report against him, had put the public servants to use their lawful powers to the enquiry of the applicant. 

He alleged that the offence of giving false information to the police constitutes as offence punishable under Section 182 PPC and the accused had committed a cognizable offence punishable under Section 389 PPC. 

He stated that he was pursuing civil remedy in the High Court for damages in connection with malicious prosecution and blackmailing done by Erhan Kanioglulari against him not only at Artillery Maidan Police Station but also filing a false application to the NAB authorities. 

Umar Farooq has further asked his lawyer that to keep the record straight and to wash away the bad impression created in the public domain as his name having appeared on websites should be get removed with immediate effect.

Trump may extend coronavirus social distancing guidelines

By Syed Sajid Aziz in USA
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The United States (US) President, Donald Trump, on April 24, has hinted that his administration may extend its national social distancing guidelines until early in the summer or later. 

“We may, and we may go beyond that. We’re going to have to see where it is. I think people are going to know just out of common sense. At some point, we won’t have to do that. But until we feel safe, we’re going to be extending,” Trump observed at the White House press briefing. 

Trump’s remarks have come just a day after multiple White House apprehended that the US might still be fighting with the deadly coronavirus by the fall and winter, when the flu season kicks up. 

The coronavirus guidelines had first been shared in the middle of March, having been extended to the end of April. There are strong enough indications now that the federal guidance might be extended once more even though Trump and state leaders looked ahead to reopening the economy, having been devastated by the coronavirus and the preventive measures taken to contain it. 

Although the federal guidelines were not legally binding on states, many of whom implemented their own social distancing rules, they recommend severe restrictions on normal behaviors, such as eating out at restaurants and socializing in groups.

Lady doctors demand strict lockdown enforcement

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Taking the cue from their male colleagues in the profession, a group of female medical practitioners, on April 24, said that hospitals providing care to the coronavirus patients were not in a position to admit more such patients in view of shortage of intensive care units including the ventilators and relevant staff. 

Speaking at a media briefing at the Karachi Press Club, they said that the diseases crisis was overwhelming and solution lied in the lockdown, which needed to be strictly enforced by the government and seriously followed by the citizens. The speakers included Dr Safia Zafar, Dr Nusrat Shah, Dr Nighat Shah, Dr Razia Korejo and others. 

They reckoned that it was government’s prime duty to protect its citizen and implement preventive measures everywhere from markets to departmental stores and from playgrounds to religious centres. 

“All over the world it is seen that only these countries are free of disease or have very few patients who strictly did the lockdown from the discovery of first case in the community,” they remarked.

They pleaded that that the doctors were under enormous pressure as cases were on increase in Karachi and rest of the country. “Sometimes the doctors have to work without protective gears and other intensive care facilities while providing care to severely ill coronavirus patients,” they added and urged the people to listen to them and stay at home to avert the disease. 

“It’s very heartbreaking that some of our doctors, nurses and health workers have lost their lives and every day we go to hospital with fear of having positive test and thinking that some of us will die,” they regretted.

Coronavirus Update: Karachi endures lowest recovery rate

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Sindh government data regarding COVID-19 outbreak in the province have revealed that only 307 (11.40%), out of 2,692 patients have recovered from the disease till April 24 in Karachi. 

To some observers, this recovery pace of COVID-19 patients at Karachi reflected two factors. Ether many of them were taking long time for recovery due to their poor medical conditions or their physicians took considerable time before starting any treatment in their cases while a majority of them were young patients.

They further remarked that the time taken for recovery in most of the cases was seven days, which could be prolonged to over one month depending on the severity of symptoms and other comorbidities and age of the patients. 

“The time in which a patient recovers after contracting the infection depends on how the disease progressed.” 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that about 80 per cent of COVID-19 cases globally were mild, which meant that these cases, which usually involved fever, cough and perhaps shortness of breath, recovered without much of an issue. 

“The younger, the patient with no other medical complaints, the greater could be the chances of quick recovery while some patients may not even be aware that they are sick.” 

A comparative study of the daily official reports pertaining to coronavirus suggested that there were a total 417 people having contracted the virus in Karachi, out of which 63 (15%) were declared recovered by April 5. Another district of Sindh housing major Covid-19 patients was Sukkur, where the rate of recovery was 21% on the same date. 

The Sindh Health department data released on April 24 revealed that the number of patients suffering corona was 243 at Hyderabad, 380 at Sukkur and 31 at Tando Mohammad Khan, out of which 161 (66%) recovered at Hyderabad, 279 (73%) at Sukkur and 15 (48%) at Tando Mohammad Khan. 

However, a source privy to the tracking and testing of coronavirus patients in the city doubted that the official data did not account the patients who have been receiving treatment at homes. 

In the meantime in his routine video message, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on April 24 said that coronavirus had claimed two more lives, raising the infection death toll in the province to 75, while 274 new cases were confirmed on the day, pushing Sindh’s coronavirus tally to 3,945. 

According to him, as many as 49 among the infected persons were in critical condition, including 15 those put on ventilators. 

He said that the total number of patients having recovered from the diseases in Sindh rose to 772 on April 24 as another 42 patients were sent home after recovery. Of the remaining under-treatment patients 1,893 have been isolated at home, 767 in isolation centres and 440 at hospitals, the Chief Minister stated. 

The Sindh Health department summary said that two coronavirus patients died at Karachi, a woman aged 85 years and a man aged 60 years, while 243 new COVID-19 cases were detected at Karachi. 

The other districts that reported new cases included Sukkur (14) Hyderabad (8) and Larkana (3), followed by Badin, Sanghar, Tando Allahyar, Khairpur, Kamber Shahdadkot and Umerkot which reported a case each. The overall coronavirus infection rate came as 11% for Sindh.

US President agrees to send ventilators to Pakistan, other developing countries

By Syed Sajid Aziz in USA
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The United States (US) President, Donald Trump, on April 24, announced to send ventilators to three developing more countries after having promised to do the same to as many countries, including Pakistan.

In a series of tweets, Trump pledged ventilators for Ecuador, El Salvador and Indonesia after having committed the life-saving breathing equipment to Pakistan, Mexico and Russia to let these countries combat coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

The US President had also expressed his willingness to supply ventilators to three European countries, Italy, Spain and the UK, where the pandemic had wreaked havoc during the last few weeks. 

There were also reports suggesting that the US officials were preparing to ship ventilators to Africa, in an effort to counter Chinese diplomatic initiatives. 

President Trump earlier disclosed that Pakistan had asked him to send ventilators for the victims of the coronavirus and he has agreed to do so. 

“Spoke with Pakistan; they would like to have some ventilators. We’re going to get them some ventilators,” he said, adding that all the leaders, he spoke to, were indebted to the US for solving the ventilator problem.

Chinese experts team, relief goods arrive Islamabad

By Masood Sattar Khan 

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

A plane onboard a group of medical experts and material, used to fight coronavirus (COVID-19), alongwith goods, has arrived Pakistan from China. 

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has provided the emergency anti-epidemic materials assistance to the Pakistan Army and dispatches an expert team, officials of the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad informed on April 24. 

In order to actively implement the important concept of building a community of human destiny advocated by President Xi Jinping, the Chinese People's Liberation Army has been vigorously participating in the domestic fight against the new coronary pneumonia epidemic while actively carrying out international cooperation in the fight against epidemics.

At the request of the Pakistani Army and, with the approval of the Central Military Commission, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army sent an Air Force aircraft to Islamabad on April 24 to provide emergency assistance to the Pakistani army for a number of emergency prevention and control materials needed by the Pakistani side. 

The Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Yao Jing, General Nadeem, Chairman of the Pakistani Army Federation, and Lieutenant General Hamed, coordinator of the National Epidemic Prevention Command and Action Center greeted them upon arrival.