–Infections tally crosses 12,000 with 261 deaths recorded till Apr 25
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza on Saturday said 79 per cent of all coronavirus cases in Pakistan are due to local transmission as the total number of infections crossed 12,000.
“It is now fair to say that our outbreak is now mostly of local transmission,” he told a news conference in Islamabad.
The number of confirmed cases soared to 12,227 across the country with 5,326 in Punjab, 4,232 in Sindh, 1,708 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 656 in Balochistan, 223 in Islamabad, 55 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 307 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
2,755 patients have recovered, while the virus has claimed 261 deaths so far.
The coronavirus deaths in the country have been “constantly” on the rise, Mirza said as he urged Pakistanis to take even more precautions during Ramzan. “Make your homes your places of worship,” he said. “And if you insist on going to mosques then at least follow the 20-point SOPs (standard operating procedures).”
He also informed that a Chinese company has offered Pakistan to provide vaccination — which is being prepared– against coronavirus, adding that Pakistan sought details of the vaccination from Chinese company.
He said that overseas Pakistani health experts can register them at website yaranewatan.com.pk, which was launched on Friday, while another web portal telehealth.gov.pk has also been launched on Saturday, where local premedical staff can register themselves.
On Wednesday, a major Chinese pharmaceutical company invited the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, to collaborate in conducting clinical trials of its recently developed inactivated vaccine for COVID-19 in Pakistan.
The offer was made in a letter sent to NIH Executive Director Maj Gen Dr Aamer Ikram by the general manager of China Sinopharm International Corp., Li Can, who expressed the hope that “a successful clinical trial in Pakistan will make it one of [the] first few countries for the launch of a Covid-19 vaccine”.
While confirming that he has received the letter on Wednesday, Dr Ikram said that although no action has so far been taken, the collaboration could be “a great thing for Pakistan”.
“We want to increase the trend of clinical trials in the country. There are a number of laws before it can start; it has to be approved by the ethics committee, but we will start when we get the clearance,” he added.
