Corona positivity rising in major cities

ISLAMABAD: The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on Monday was apprised that COVID-19 positivity ratio was rapidly increasing nationwide which was 4.5 percent in the country amid 15 major cities having higher positivity ratio.

The NCOC meeting discussed at length the recent surge in Covid-19 positivity ratio and recent enforcement measures post National Coordination Committee (NCC) meeting. The chief secretaries of the provinces updated the forum on administrative measures implemented as per the fresh guidelines issued by the NCOC in higher positivity ratio cities in their respective provinces.The chief secretaries briefed the forum on their initiatives, particularly administrative measures and enforcement efforts regarding face mask wearing and arrangements for outdoor weddings' modalities to ensure compliance of fresh health guidelines.

The forum noticed that positivity ratio in major cities was increasing rapidly as Hyderabad was having the highest 16.59 percent positivity ratio in Pakistan, Gilgit 15.38 percent, Multan 15.97 percent, Muzafarabad 14.12 percent, Mirpur 11.11 percent, Peshawar 9.69 percent, Quetta 8.03 percent, Islamabad 7.48 percent, Karachi 7.12 percent, Lahore 5.37 percent and Rawalpindi 4.63 percent.

The forum was informed that 4,136 micro smart lockdowns were in place across Pakistan.The test, trace and quarantine (TTQ) strategy was being used for disease control and prevention of Covid-19 spread, the forum was told.The forum was also informed that recent health guidelines would remain enforced in 16 major cities till Jan 31, 2021. Around 2,811 oxygenated beds were included to the existing number of the beds to ramp up hospitals' capacity, along with this, over 13,000 oxygen cylinders were issued to various provinces and federating units.

The NCOC appreciated the efforts of provinces for taking prompt and necessary measures in line with health guidelines for public safety and well being.Meanwhile, the total active Covid-19 cases in Pakistan on Monday were recorded at 18,981 as 1,650 more people tested positive for the deadly virus during the last 24 hours. Nine corona patients, eight of whom were under treatment in hospital and one out of hospital, died on Sunday, according to the latest update issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).No Covid-19 affected person was on ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit Baltistan (GB) and Balochistan, while 155 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in Pakistan, out of 1,856 allocated for the Covid-19 patients.Some 33,340 tests were conducted across the country on Sunday, including 14,343 in Sindh, 9,406 in Punjab, 4,052 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 4,065 in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 634 in Balochistan, 379 in GB, and 461 in AJK.Around 318,881 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan making it a significant count with over 90 percent recovery ratio of the affected patients.Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 344,839 cases were detected so far, including AJK 4,758, Balochistan 16,106, GB 4,366, ICT 21,861, KP 40,657, Punjab 106,922 and Sindh 150,169. About 6,977 deaths were recorded in the country since the eruption of the disease.

Meanwhile, a vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was 90 percent effective in preventing Covid-19 infections in ongoing Phase 3 trials, the companies announced on Monday.

The statement was released as soaring coronavirus cases across the world have forced many millions of people back into lockdown, causing further damage to ravaged economies. European stock markets and oil prices jumped on the announcement.

US President Donald Trump, who lost last week's election in part over his administration's response to the pandemic, hailed the announcement as "such great news".

According to preliminary findings, protection in patients was achieved seven days after the second of two doses, and 28 days after the first. The companies said they expect to supply up to 50 million vaccine doses globally in 2020, and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021."The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine's ability to prevent COVID-19," Pfizer chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement. "We are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis," he said. "We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development programme at a time when the world needs it most."Across much of the globe, Covid-19 infections rates are hitting record highs, with hospital intensive care units filling up and death tolls mounting.US biotech firm Moderna, several state-run Chinese labs, and a European project led by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca are also thought to be closing in on potentially viable vaccines.Two Russian COVID-19 vaccines have been registered for use even before clinical trials were completed, but have not been widely accepted outside of Russia. The Phase 3 clinical trial -- the final stage -- of the new vaccine, BNT162b2, began in late July and has enrolled 43,538 participants to date, 90 percent of whom have received a second dose of the vaccine candidate as of November 8.Pfizer said it is gathering two months of safety data following the final dose -- a requirement of the US Food and Drug Administration -- to qualify for Emergency Use Authorization, which it expects by the third week in November."We look forward to sharing additional efficacy and safety data generated from thousands of participants in the coming weeks," Bourla said.

President-elect Joe Biden, meanwhile, cheered news about the promising development of a coronavirus vaccine but cautioned Americans need to be aggressive about mask wearing and social distancing as infections continue to surge around the country.

The Democrat’s transition team also unveiled members of Biden’s coronavirus working group tasked with developing his administration’s pandemic response — something Biden says he wants to put in motion as soon as he takes office in January.

“Even if that is achieved, and some Americans are vaccinated later this year, it will be many more months before there is widespread vaccination in this country,” Biden said in a statement, noting that the vaccine does not change the “urgent reality” that Americans will have to rely on masking, distancing, and other mitigation in the months ahead.