Coronavirus self-screening app released

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

The Aga Khan University (AKU), Karachi, has launched CoronaCheck, a new mobile app that enables Pakistanis to easily and safely evaluate symptoms with an in-home screening tool and understand the next steps to looking after themselves. 

The app uses an interactive chatbot, driven by artificial intelligence, which allows users to understand their symptoms, recognize whether they may have contracted COVID-19 and seek help in a timely manner. It also aims to identify potential coronavirus carriers, limit their risk of transmission and to list the national helplines available. 

By reducing the need for patients to visit hospitals for screening, the app will also contribute to reducing the burden on the healthcare system and ensure care for those most in need. 

CoronaCheck has been jointly developed by the Aga Khan University Hospital, whose clinical faculty advised on the development of the screening algorithm, and AKU’s Technology Innovation Support Centre, TISC, which provided the technological expertise for the app.

“The coronavirus has placed the country’s healthcare system under tremendous strain with frontline healthcare professionals already working around the clock. Through this app, we hope to share useful tips that can prevent new cases and provide reassurance to worried citizens during a time of widespread concern,” Saleem Sayani, director of AKU’s TISC, observed. 

The tool has been adopted from the Alberta Health Services and modified to meet the local context and the evolving epidemiology of the disease. CoronaCheck also seeks to tackle myths and misconceptions by featuring educational videos in Urdu, to combat the increasing amount of unverified information circulating on social media platforms. 

It also includes authentic information on best practices to protect oneself from infection, advice on self-assessment, and precautions and guidance on physical distancing recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) and national health ministries.

Acting locally, thinking globally

By Zaib Azkaar Hussain
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

A renowned British primatologist and researcher, Jane Goodall, is of the view that the disregard for nature and disrespect for animals on the part of humanity caused coronavirus pandemic.

She warns that the world must learn from past mistakes to prevent future disasters. She holds that everyone should think about the consequences of little choices and in this way everyone can make an impact every single day. 

She suggests "So what we can do in our individual lives does depend a little bit on who we are, but we all can make a difference, everybody can." 

Here comes a promising poet and writer, Kamran Mughal, who in his recent Urdu prose poem, has portrayed the 'agony of a sparrow' under the title of "Churria ki faryaad'. 

He is not only an emerging poet but also a well-known journalist, presenter and social worker. 

When he recited his prose poem at an online literary meeting of Halqaa-e Arbaab-e Zaqu (HAZ) Karachi, the critics and scholars highly appreciated him for his diction and meaningful thought the poem discussed.

In his poem, he has tried his best to paint (in words) the 'grief of a sparrow' that has been deserted by the human beings suffering from coronavirus.

The people have deserted themselves (living in isolation) due the fear of spread of disease, the birds who were in habit of coming to their houses' windows and balconies for eating seeds, now were facing a helpless situation due to the closure of gates and windows. 

He says although the suffering of mankind in present times seems to be bigger than the hunger of a bird but it was an irony that the poor birds were being completely ignored and no one was there to serve them with seeds and foods. 

Interestingly in his latest prose poem titled "Churria ki faryaad' he has tried to paint the 'grief of a sparrow' that has been deserted by the human being suffering from coronavirus.

He says though the suffering of mankind in present times seems to be bigger than the hunger of mankind, it was a great irony that the poor birds were totally ignored and no one was there to serve the birds even a seed (food).

The poem says in a sarcastic tone, while depicting expression of a sparrow, that the mankind was facing dire consequences for his bad actions he committed in the past, but he was still unwilling to realize and rethink on living life as was not ready to take pity on weak creatures. 

The poem concludes that irony of the time was to stop the supply of food to the poor birds. 

Kamran Mughal is experiencing interesting ways and treatment to respond towards the issues and subjects as in one of his prose poems titled "Baghdad ki sarrak", he discusses the burden of the travellers, trucks and other vehicles on a road which leads to Baghdad. 

Very interesting and rather heart-touching is the description of tragedy of an inorganic object (road) which has got more 'blackish', 'pathetic' and rather 'pitiable' as it was being used as a mean of carrying weapons and other things by warriors to harm and kill each other. The poem laments that a road has become a source of annoyance to humanity.

Coronavirus Update: Record six deaths in Sindh

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Four men and two women lost their lives at different hospitals of the province, taking an all-day high tally of corona related deaths to six, according to the Sindh health department data updated on April 11. 

A 65-years old woman died at Hyderabad, while other five, including a woman of 60, died of coronavirus at Karachi. The four men having died at Karachi were aged 57, 59, 65 and 75, respectively, said an official of the health department, adding that in all 28 deaths have taken place in Sindh, 25 at Karachi and three at Hyderabad. 

Earlier, Sindh had reported a maximum of three deaths per day on two occasions, March 29 and April 3. 

According to official data, the viral disease has spread in 20 districts, including six districts of Karachi. Sindh tested 12,740 people since February 26, out of which 1,318 were found infected, including 104 tested positive in the last 24 hours ending 8 am on April 11. 

The record suggested that the latest number of daily infection (104) was the third highest while a maximum 119 new infections were reported on March 30 and 116 on March 16. 

The overall rate of coronavirus infection in Sindh came as 10.34%, while the death rate remained 2.10 per hundred infected cases. Those tested for corona so far included expatriates and pilgrims besides those having contracted the virus locally. 

The overall district wise tally of positive corona patients across the Sindh on April 11 was: Karachi (803), Sukkur (274), Hyderabad (176), Larkana (16), Khairpur (14), Tando Muhammad Khan (12), Shaheed Benazirabad (8), Naushehro Feroze (4), Ghotki (2), Jamshoro (2), Sujawal (2), Sanghar (2), Dadu (1), Badin (1) and Jacoababad (1).

Sindh CM’s hints at tighter lockdown

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his routine video message, stated that the detection of 104 new coronavirus cases in one day was ‘quite worrisome situation’ and the reason behind this was ‘not a strict enforcement of lockdown.’ 

“During last 24 hours, ending 8am on April 11, 531 new samples were tested, out of which 104 (20%) were found positive for coronavirus,” he added, saying this was the highest average of positive cases in the world. “

"The ongoing lockdown is being taken lightly and that is why cases in Karachi and other districts have started increasing,” the Chief Minister observed and revealed that he had ordered to further tighten the lockdown in Malir district and other areas where more cases have been diagnosed.

Once again he called upon the people to make the ongoing lockdown activities a success and meaningful, otherwise a six-month long ineffective lockdown will also prove a futile exercise. 

Meanwhile, the District Administration ordered sealing of areas within the 11 union councils within the district as they reported coronavirus cases in considerable numbers. The areas included Gilani Railways, Dalmia, Jamali Colony, Gulshan-II, Pehalwan Goth, Gulzar-e-Hijri, Safoora, Faisal , Manzoor Colony, Jacob Line and Jamshed Quarters.

Doctors associations seek protective gears

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The doctors bodies appeared concerned over what they say failures of governments and health administration in providing due protection to frontline medical professionals against coronavirus in hospitals across the country.

Demanding for provision of safety kits to front liners, the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA), on April 11, said that the authorities should move fast before the incident like Quetta was repeated in Karachi while the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) reiterated that the doctors must be protected all over the country on priority basis and the governments in the federation and provinces should ensure compensation to aggrieved family members of doctors. 

The doctors and paramedics in Quetta had gathered at the Civil Hospital against the health authorities for not providing personal protection gears and other preventive items to them. 

They, however, were later arrested by police on the ground that they violated Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedures imposed by the government in the wake of the preventive lockdown and finally released. 

The Quetta doctors staged the protest reportedly in the backdrop of about a dozen doctors contracted coronavirus while discharging their duties. 

The two associations remained apprehensive about more doctors getting infected by the virus while performing duties. 

The PIMA disclosed that 10 healthcare providers, including six doctors, of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Trauma Centre, Karachi, tested positive for Corona as reportedly the administration didn't equip their frontliners with personal protection equipment (PPE).

Highlighting the need for proper equipping of all hospitals, a PIMA representative reminded the protocol that every patient had to be be considered as COVID-19 positive until prove otherwise. 

He further said that most of local transmission to healthcare professionals was coming through asymptomatic Corona patients. Holding that the safety of doctors should be top first priority, the PIMA leader demanded for provision of safety kits to frontliners before the incident like Quetta was repeated in Karachi. 

“The administration of Trauma Centre should be made answerable to this gross negligence,” he demanded. 

The PIMA alleged that the administration at certain healthcare centres was deliberately holding back the PPEs having received from the government instead of supplying them to front line care givers. 

“While the PIMA was trying to fulfill the ever increasing demand for PPEs, the need was enormous,” the association said, reiterating that it stood with young doctors in their justified demands and will go to any ethical extent to support them. 

On the other hand, the PMA said that doctors fighting against coronavirus were front line soldiers and they must be protected all over Pakistan on priority basis because they and their families were at risk. Pointing out that so many doctors have been found positive with coronavirus, 

The PMA, in a statement, also cited the example of an ENT Professor Dr Muhammad Javed of Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar.  “Dr Javed has been tested positive for coronavirus and has been shifted to ICU. He is on ventilator and fighting for his life.” 

It further said that two of doctors have died so far while fighting on the front lines, Dr Usama Riaz at Peshawar and Dr Abdul Qadir Soomro at Karachi..“Unfortunately no compensation has been announced yet for the aggrieved families of the deceased doctors.” 

The PMA demanded from the federal government and the provincial governments concerned to announce not only a compensation amount for the families but a regular monthly support amount for the education, health and utilities for the families of the deceased doctors urgently. 

In the meantime, the Sindh government has constituted a committee to finalize the distribution of PPEs, being received from the National Disaster Management Authority, according to a government notification. 

The committee will comprise of Senior Member Board of Revenue, Sindh(Chairman) and Secretary/Special Secretary Health, Director Medical Services, 5 Corps Karachi, and Dr Abdul Bari Khan of Indus Hospital, Karachi, as members while Director General, Provincial Disaster Management, will act as member cum Secretary of the committee.