Pakistani community in China contributes for COVID-19

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Pakistani community including, students, teachers, businessmen and bankers living in China have contributed as per their capacity for their compatriots combating life threatening coronavirus (COVID-19) in homeland. 

There are around as many as 30,000 Pakistani students across China studying undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the fields of business administration, agriculture, science and technology. 

Besides, availing the Chinese government scholarships, many of Pakistani students are studying on self-finance and most of them have contributed from their pocket money in fundraising. 

Perturbed with reports of coronavirus struck all over Pakistan, the students started collecting donations in cash and anti-virus gadgets that mostly including N 95 mask from all over China. 

Prominent among those who hold the banner firmly for collecting donations includes Dr Sajjid Khurshid, a professor, Sabir Jan Tipu, a businessman, Sami Iqbal from Southeast China University besides other bankers, educationists, restaurant owners and members of Pak-China Chambers.

When contacted by PNFS, Dr Sajjad Khurshid, who has been living in China for the past two and half decades, revealed that the Pakistani community has donated face masks N95 and other equipments worth around 35,000 Chinese Yuan. 

Dr Sajjad Khurshid, after having done Phd there, has been associated with teaching profession. After having worked at the Pakistan Embassy College, Beijing, he is presently employed at an international school in the same city.

Besides a prominent educationist, having fluency in Mandarin language, Dr Sajjad Khurshid is a regular guest speaker in Chinese media, engaged in highlighting the Pakistan-China relationship and cooperation in the field of education, benefits and win-win for both sides from the China Pakistani Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s dram of One Belt One Road. 

It was informed that the members of Pak-China Chamber, particularly Sabar Jan Tipu, a prominent businessman living in China since his childhood, also actively took part in donation collections. 

Besides, donations from the Pakistani community, the Chinese government and people of China also donated in cash and kind for Pakistan. “It is great satisfaction for me to tell you that donated items have a value of RMB 25 million and it is very huge contribution made by the Chinese friends,” Pakistan’s Ambassador in China, Naghmana Alamgir Hashmi, declared in a TV interview in Beijing.

About medical supplies recently airlifted to Pakistan to help combat COVID-19, she said that this was a combination of some crucial equipments procured and purchased by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Pakistan but overwhelming tonnage of the equipment and supplies consisted of donations made by the Chinese companies and friends. 

Referring to China-Pakistan all weather friendship, she pointed out that President Dr Arif Alvi in his recent visit to China expressed solidarity and showed to the world that both the countries were standing by each other in difficulties and challenges.  

“At a time, when there was a lot of politics being played on the new coronavirus and there were very determined efforts by some countries to isolate China, we stood by China. Pakistan did not evacuate its people and we donated our entire stocks of medical supplies to China,” she added. 

Terming the current outbreak huge challenge, Ambassador Hashmi said that Pakistan was a developing country and there were large areas in the cities and villages where poverty still existed while the population was not 100 percent literate. 

“Under the prevailing circumstances, the government had so far done quite well. It had allowed local business under strict regulations to open up for certain number of hours every. The government also announced economic package to support the small and medium enterprises besides directly supporting the families and individuals who depend on daily wages,” the Pakistan Ambassador pointed out.

Isolation centres in every Sindh district: CM

By Mukhtar Alam 
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, confirmed on April 6 that the number of infected people had gone upto 932 out of which 253 have recovered. 

According to him, 662 patients were under treatment in public and private hospitals, while 342 were isolation at their homes. 

In addition to existing corona treatment and isolation facilties, he said, the government was in the process of establishing one isolation centre in every district, while relevant quarters have also been asked to ensure that private health establishments allocate 10 per cent of their bed for corona patients.

In a message, he informed that SOPs were underway for leading post lockdown lifestyle. “We will handover SOPs, which are under preparation, for each and every sector, including mosques, shopkeepers and traders, industries, educational institutions and others for post lockdown period,” he stated. 

He further said that every individual will have to reshape his and her domestic, business and social life in the post lockdown period as life will not be same as it was before the coronavirus spread in the country. 

On this occasion, the Chief Minister also urged the philanthropists to maintain social distance from recipients, while distributing rations among them. “If the social distancing is not maintained, there are chances of spread of the diseases, which may be termed as crime”, he warned.

Coronavirus claims life of first physician in Sindh

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Dr Abdul Qadir Soomro became the first physician from Sindh to become a casualty of coronavirus (COVID-19) as he passed away at the isolation centre of the Indus Hospital, Karachi, on April 6. He was 64. 

He had been on life support for the last several days after having contracted coronavirus while treating his patients in the Gulsahn-e-Hadeed. In their separate messages, the Sindh Chief Minsiter, Syed Murad Ali Shah, and the Sindh Health Minister, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, stated that they were deeply grieved over the demise of Dr Abdul Qadir Soomro. 

The Chief Minister recognized that the deceased healthcare professional was one of the frontline doctors facing the corona pandemic. 

Having done MBBS from the Chandka Medical College Larkana, Dr Abdul Qadir Soomro specialized in dermatology before starting his practice. A former chief medical officer (CMO) of the Pakistan Steel Mills, he was actively involved in the establishment of charity health facilities in Sindh.

Coronavirus Update: Infection rate unchanged in Sindh

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The overall rate of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Sindh remained almost unchanged on April 6 when it was declared by the government that different set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for post lockdown era was in the offing. 

Another 51 people out of 658 tested at different government designated testing centres were found infected. The latest rate came as 9.71% in comparison to 9.86% of April 5, 10.38% on April 3. No official data was released on April 4. 

As per the data, the Sindh health department tested 658 people in 24 hours ending at 8am on April 6, out of which 7.75 samples were confirmed corona positive. Similarly, another 51 samples were assessed on April 5, out of which 5.43% were positive, while 47 (9.63%) out of 488 tested on April 3 were detected positive. 

An analysis suggests that the average every day percentage of new infection remained lower than the overall Covid-19 infection in the province since February 26 when the first corona infection of Sindh and country was confirmed in a young man, who had the history of travelling Iran, a country facing the onslaught of the virus that originated from China in mid-December 2019 and took almost the entire world in its grip. 

Though peaceful with the existing contained rate of the corona tests in the province, experts at the same time stressed the need for expanding the testing activities to have any practicable picture or trend of the infection. 

Considering the population of Sindh, estimated to be around 55 million, an expert reckoned that government has been able to test only 9,600 people (0.017%) so far, which remained a negligible rate in comparison to other infected countries. 

In Sindh, the disease has spread in 19 districts, including six districts of Karachi, claiming 18 deaths. The last death was that of a physician serving in the Malir district of Karachi.

Chinese university gifts face masks to KU

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services) 

The staff at the University of Karachi (KU), which at present is closed for any academic purpose, will start getting face-masks, having been gifted by a Chinese university from April 7.

An official of the KU informed PNFS on April 6 that teaching and non-teaching staff may start getting the face-masks from the university’s health clinic on April 7. 

As many as 7,000 surgical face-masks, including about 50 N95 facemasks, have been arranged by KU’s Confucius Institute (CI) recently, in the wake of Coronavirus epidemic in the country, the official added. 

Earlier at a ceremony during the day, the CI Director, Professor Zhang Xiaoping, handed over the facemasks boxes on behalf of from the Sichuan Normal University of China to Senior Medical Officer of KU Clinic, Prof Dr Syed Abid Hasan in the presence of KU Vice Chancellor, Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, and senior faculty members. 

Professor Xiaoping shared that Pakistan and China have been good friends for many years. “When the human to human transmission of coronavirus occurred in China we got a lot of support from Pakistanis,” he added, observing that now, like numerous countries across the globe, Pakistan is also faced with the challenge of the COVID-19 and the Chinese government and people are very much concerned and willing to support Pakistanis.

He recalled that the KU VC and the Pakistani Director of CI at KU others recorded video messages and prayed for early recovery of the coronavirus affected people in China. 

“We got a lot of special support and wishes from the people of Pakistan,” he said and added that the SNU, which is the hosting university of the CI, had provided durable face-masks for the teaching and non-teaching staff of KU. 

The KU VC, Dr Khalid Iraqi, said that the university administration was grateful to SNU for its goodwill gesture. 

“While Pak-China friendship has got stronger and deeper with the passage of time, such a difficult time is bringing them further closer to each other,” he mentioned. 

On this occasion, VC also appreciated the role and services of the staff of the KU’s clinic, saying the whole staff is available around the clock to facilitate the teachers and non-teaching staff. 

The KU Registrar Professor, Dr Saleem Shahzad, expressed that Sichuan Normal University has sent the gift to help the KU staff and believed that these masks will help against the disease at this difficult moment. 

The KU Senior Medical Officer, Dr Syed Abid, thanked the SNU for providing surgical and N95 masks. He also informed the gathering that Al Khidmat, a welfare organization, has also provided three doctor’s suits, hand sanitizers, surgical facemasks, and gloves to the KU Clinic recently.

KPT donates 3,000 ration packs for COVID-19 victims

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi 
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, on April 6, handed over six trucks, having 3,000 ration packs, to the Governor of Sindh, Imran Ismail, for free distribution among the labourers in Hyderabad. 

Speaking on the occasion, the Governor of Sindh disclosed that the target was to distribute 50,000 ration packs out which 7,000 packs had already been distributed and 3,000 more packs were being sent on April 6. 

He informed that the ration bags had been collected with the contributions of the philanthropists as well as the institutions supporting the cause of the victims of Coronavirus (COVID-19). 

He also disclosed that as many 120,000 people have been registered for the tiger force from the province of Sindh.

Sindh CM stresses on social distancing

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in a video messaged released on April 5, stressed that social distancing was the only way to contain coronavirus and he appealed to the masses that they should cooperate with the government during the lockdown till April 14 as announced by the government. 

Speaking about the management of people infected with coronavirus, Murad Ali Shah revealed that 380 of the active cases, with no or mild symptoms, have been isolated in their homes, while 224 were being treated in the government-run isolation facilities and another 139 in different hospitals. 

Moreover, he continued, government has constituted rapid response teams which deal with the pandemic in every district of the province. These teams have been tasked to identify corona patients and examine other suspected cases linked to him or her also, he mentioned, adding that all patients get equal attention and treatment from the government doctors, irrespective of the fact that they are at home or in a hospital. 

He noted that if the disease spreads in katchi abadis (slum areas), it will be very difficult to contain the disease there, as such localities are thickly populated, while people in many cases live in a single room.

Coronavirus Update: Sujawal, Naushehro Feroz also infected

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

According to the Sindh health department data, issued after a gap of 33 hours on April 5, the coronavirus has reached in 18 districts of Sindh, where 743 patients having contracted the infection are still under treatment. The new infected districts were Naushehro Feroz (two new cases) and Sujawal (one case). 

As per the official data of the Sindh government, with the detection of new cases across the province the tally of corona infection has reached to 881, out of which 123 got recovered, 15 died at Karachi and Hyderabad. New cases were reported from Karachi (37), Larkana (6), Hyderabad (4), Naushehro Feroze (2), Sujawal (1) and Sukkur (1). 

The overall district wise tally of positive corona patients across the Sindh on April was: Karachi (417), Sukkur (274), Hyderabad (156), Larkana (13), Shaheed Benazirabad (6), Tando M Khan (5), Ghotki (2), Jamshoro (2), Naushehro Feroze (2), Dadu (1), Badin (1), Sujawal (1) and Jacoababad (1). Sindh has tested 8,931 people since February 26, out of which 881 were found infected.

Corona field facility at Karachi Expo Centre may admit patients now

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The 1,200-bed field isolation centre at the Karachi Expo Centre, on April 6, will open its doors for new COVID-19 infected patients of Karachi and other parts of Sindh who will be referred to it by designated tertiary care hospitals, as the diseases infected another 51 people in six districts of Sindh on April 5. 

A source in the provincial health department informed PNFS that authorities have decided not to overburden the designated tertiary care health facilities in terms of corona cases further. 

The hospitals have now been asked to admit only new severely ill COVID-19 patients or those seeking intensive cares, while the rest will present at the newly established Expo Centre isolation facility, where the Sindh health department has deployed its doctors, paramedics and other human resources, the source added.

Through a letter of the health department, all the district health officers of Karachi division have been asked to refer the asymptomatic or mild symptomatic COVID-19 positive cases to Field Isolation Centre at the Karachi Expo Centre, from April 6 after due processing. 

However, medical superintendents of the hospitals of Karachi have been asked to ensure that the positive cases having moderate or severe symptoms of COVID-19 were kept in isolation ward of their respective hospitals, according to the letter. 

The source said that the field isolation centre has been established by the Pakistan Army with the technical support of a private university hospital, while Sindh government is supposed to meet out the human resources component including the physicians. 

If needed, the COVID-19 patients from hospitals in the interior of Sindh may also be shifted to the Karachi field hospital in question, the source added, clarifying that none of the coronavirus patients already admitted in about six designated hospitals in Karachi will be transferred to the Expo Centre, which was inaugurated in the presence of the Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and Sindh Health minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho on April 2.

PALPA stops pilots from operating flights

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Pakistan Airlines Pilots’ Association (PALPA), on April 5, has urgently advised all its members not to operate any flights until further orders. 

In a flash to its members, the PALPA official has pointed out that it had come to their notice that safety had been compromised and the Coronavirus (COVID-19) related SOP’s had been ignored on recently operated humanitarian flights. 

It was stated that safety and health of its crew members has always been and remained their utmost priority and the PALPA will, under no circumstances, compromise on the safety of its members. 

According to the PALPA sources, the Corona related symptoms were suspected in four pilots and the crew members were shifted to a private hotel at Karachi airport. 

It was disclosed that a couple of pilots and as many First Officers had reached Karachi after a ferry flight from the UK after having operated a special flight from Islamabad. 

Meanwhile the suspects were being tested for Coronavirus and in case the report came positive they will be pitted to quarantine accordingly. 

According to the PAPLA, it had written a letter to the PIA Management regarding putting pilots on flight operation without protective kits and measures and in the absence of protective measures it has great reservations of allowing pilots on duty under prevailing conditions.