Fiber optic deal to revolutionize digital communication

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The $44 million China-Pakistan fiber optic that one cluster was operationalized recently will revolutionize digital communication.  

The 820-km long fiber optic from Khunjerab China to Islamabad was operationalized on July 12. In the next phase it will connect with Karachi and then Gwadar. 

After the launch of a number of mega projects under CPEC, the digital communication between Pakistan and China has increased manifolds. 

Also a large number of Pakistani students are getting higher education in different universities in China. Recently these students were attending their classes online as their classes were suspended because of COVID-19. These students needed a fast and reliable internet facility to pursue their studies. As per plan the network will also be connected with Transit-Europe-Asia Terrestrial Cable network.

Coronavirus Update: Sindh's patient recovery rate inching towards 70%

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Sindh, which in recent days has been reportedly witnessing calm in its daily new COVID-19 infection rates, again registered a significant increase in the number patients who recovered from the disease on July 16 when authorities in the government confirmed 1,155 new cases, with 34 more related fatalities.

On July 16, according to official data, another 3,775 patients got recovered, while 4,872 patients were reported ‘recovered’ against a daily infection number of 1,140 on July 15, 1,591 recovered against the new infection number of 1,151 on July 14 and 1,871 recovered against the infection number of 1,089 on July 13.

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his routine coronavirus status statement on July 16, said that there were 34,070 active cases, all under medical supervision at hospitals or homes, while 74,076 patients had been cured or discharged from health facilities.

He further said that 923 COVID-19 infected patients were receiving treatment at hospitals, including 375 in critical condition, while 105 were put on ventilators across the province. As of July 16, Sindh’s overall recovery rate was 67%, against the overall infection rate of 18%.

Keen observers said that the recovery of infected patients was encouraging and Sindh needed not only to contain its existing level of new daily infections but also to ensure the recovery rate continued to improve steadily.

As per the new infection data, Karachi contributed 417 (36%) new cases to the total cases reported across the province during the last 24 hours ending on July 16 morning.

In terms of new infection reporting, Karachi was followed by Shaheed Benazirabad (53), Khairpur (49), Ghotki (41), Larkana (40), Sukkur (38), Naushero Feroze (37), Hyderabad (33), Jacobabad (29), Thatta (21), Badin (19), Sanghar (18), Kambar Shadadkot (17), Shikarpur (16), Jamshoro (15), Dadu (14), Kashmore (14), Mirpurkhas (13), Sujawal (10), Umerkot (5) and Tando Mohammad Khan (1), as per the Chief Minister’s statement, which did not provide the details of patients who succumbed to COVID-19 either at hospitals or homes. He disclosed that the overall tally of deaths had reached to 1,922.

The Sindh health department also did not release any district wise details of the fatalities or the daily COVID-19 summary on July 16, but a website hosted by the department updated the number of fatalities as 1,960.

In the meantime, according to a WHO Sindh sub-office report, updated on July15, said that 11,660 tests were conducted during the preceding 24 hours in the province, out of which 6,662 were from Karachi, with 12% positive cases, 4,264 from Hyderabad, with 13% positive cases, 116 in Sukkur, with 11% positive cases, while 18 tests were performed in Larkana, none tested positive.

The report further said that of the 370 intensive care unit beds available at various Karachi hospitals, 27% of them was occupied by patients availing ventilators, while another 39 went to off-ventilator patients and 34% beds were vacant. Coming on the healthcare workers infected with COVID-19 in Sindh so far, the report said that 77% of them were doctors.

Study finds fear of contracting COVID-19 major source of anxiety, stress

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

A group of researchers at the Aga Khan University (AKU), having conducted a study, has found fear of contracting COVID-19 as the major source of anxiety and stress among respondents they surveyed online. 

“Three out of four Pakistani adults are suffering from moderate or high levels of stress during this COVID-19 pandemic while nearly one in three are experiencing moderate or severe anxiety,” the researchers reported while releasing findings of their first phase of an ongoing survey. 

Over 90 per cent of the participants were from Sindh and Punjab, having been contacted by the Karachi based researchers of the university. 

As many as 374 respondents were reached to determine if people had generalised anxiety disorder, perceived stress or both conditions.

“The respondents ranked the top three causes of anxiety and stress as being fear of contracting the virus, financial losses during the pandemic and losing a loved one to COVID-19,” a communication issued by the AKU said.

According to the research group hailing from AKU’s department of community health sciences (CHS), 76% of the survey participants were much more concerned about their loved ones catching the disease. In comparison, four of 10 respondents reported a lot of fear or extreme fear about catching the virus themselves.

Professor Sameen Siddiqi, the CHS department chair commented that the pandemic had exposed the social and economic vulnerabilities and created widespread uncertainty in society.

“If left unchecked, stress associated with COVID-19 can lead to distress and the distress can lead to disease,” it was warned.

The study also found a high correlation between exposure to rumours via WhatsApp and anxiety or stress, since more than eight out of ten respondents suffering from the two conditions were using this social media platform.