Graph: Tracking Coronavirus case increase in Pakistan
We are providing data gathered by 12pm. This number can go up by night-time. We will update the figures as possible.
This is a day-by-day breakdown of cases :
What treatment approaches has Pakistan used for COVID-19 so far?
ISLAMABAD, APR 23 – The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the medical community into disarray. It’s not just the overwhelming number of patients, lack of PPE or high mortality rates that plague health professionals, but without any curative or preventive medicine, doctors are left treating patients through a series of trial and error.The world over 70 vaccines for the novel coronavirus are under development, according to the WHO. Trials of different drugs and drug cocktails are also underway but experts say it is too soon to conclusively decide what works.
Tax regulator advises taxpayers to provide IBAN number for refund
ISLAMABAD, APR 23 – The Federal Board of Revenue has devised a centralised system of online refund payments to tax payers’ accounts.It has requested Pakistani tax payers to update their international bank account number “of the same bank whose details are already available in their IRIS profile”.It said in a press release that the system has been devised so that the cheques of refunds of sales tax, federal excise duties and income tax could be sent directly to the taxpayers’ accounts.
Pakistan gets $1.39b from IMF to shore up economy
Pakistan has received $1.39 billion by the International Monetary Fund. This was confirmed by the State Bank of Pakistan in a tweet Wednesday evening.This is a loan under the Rapid Financing Instrument. It was approved by the IMF on April 17 to bolster the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.It is expected to meet urgent balance of payment needs that have arisen due to the pandemic. An IMF press release noted that the country’s health spending and social welfare support have increased during this time.
India stops using rapid COVID-19 testing kits over quality issues
The Indian Council of Medical Research, India’s main medical research body, has asked states across the country to stop using COVID-19 rapid testing kits after discrepancies in results.
The state of Rajasthan has completely halted testing through the kits.
“We did rapid tests on 168 confirmed cases but only 5.4% of them tested positive for antibodies,” said Rajasthan Medical and Health Minister Raghu Sharma, reported The Hindu. “The majority of the confirmed cases tested negative.”
India had imported around one million rapid testing kits from China early April to increase its testing capacity. Other states in the country had also complained that the kits were malfunctioning.
Rapid antibody kits test the presence of antibodies against COVID-19 in the patient’s blood. If the antibodies exist, it would mean that the person had been infected and developed immunity to the novel coronavirus.
The ICMR said it would examine and test the kits further and issue an advisory on their use, said The Hindu. Until then they had to go back to using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based testing. The US and UK had also reported problems with the kits’ sensitivity earlier. However, China denied any quality issues.
India has reported 21,393 COVID-19 cases and 681 deaths. The health ministry says the country’s recovery rate stands at 17.48%.
China to give WHO $30 million more
BEIJING, APR 23 – China announced Thursday it will donate another $30 million to the World Health Organization to help in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic, days after Washington said it would freeze funding.“China has decided to donate another $30 million in cash to the WHO, in addition to the previous donation of $20 million, to support the global fight against COVID-19 and strengthen developing countries’ health systems,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular press briefing.
Pakistan presented cultural revival strategy at UNESCO virtual Meeting
PARIS, APR 24 (DNA) – The Federal Minister for Education and Special Initiative Mr. Shafqat Mahmood outlined Pakistan’s strategy to mitigate the impact of the COVID19 crisis on the cultural sector of Pakistan at a virtual meeting organized by the UNESCO Headquarters Paris, yesterday.
