Torkham border shut to prevent spread of delta variant of coronavirus

PESHAWAR: The government has shut the border with Afghanistan at Torkham to prevent transmission of the delta variant of the coronavirus in Pakistan.

On the other hand, physicians in Peshawar claimed that the patients suffering from the delta variant of the virus were still arriving in Pakistan using different means to seek treatment for the fatal disease.

Federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad announced that all types of immigration departure and arrival would be closed at the Torkham border from Tuesday. The decision was made on the advice of the National Command and Operation Centre to prevent transmission of the new deadly variant of the virus.

Some of the physicians in Peshawar claimed they had received Covid-19 patients from Afghanistan in their private clinics and they were suffering from the new delta variant. It alerted the doctor community as they don’t have adequate safety procedures in their private clinics.

All the patients and their attendants sit in close proximity waiting for their appointment outside the clinics. According to the doctors, the border has already been shut in Torkham but some of the patients and their attendants managed to arrive in Peshawar due to means better known to them.

Since the majority of Afghan patients prefer Peshawar for seeking treatment, the doctors were prone to the new variant of coronavirus. The doctors were being advised by colleagues to take precautionary measures and remain safe from the new variant, which reportedly has reached Afghanistan from India. According to health experts, Pfizer and AstraZeneca have got good coverage

against delta variant but since 50 percent of the doctors have not been vaccinated, they would need extra care in the prevailing conditions.

“There is a general fear among the doctors that the delta variant was transmitted to Afghanistan from India and now it can easily spread to Pakistan and particularly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The doctors believe that the Chinese vaccine that they had received may not be effective against this delta Indian virus,” one senior physician opined on condition of anonymity in Peshawar.

So far China, US, UK have vaccinated around half of their population while other European countries are in the range of 30 per cent coverage. While developing countries including Pakistan are well below 10 per cent coverage.

Pakistan is attempting to vaccinate people but lack of resources, issues with the supply of vaccine and negative propaganda against the corona vaccine were some of the issues affecting the vaccination process. Efforts were made to seek comments from Deputy Commissioner of Khyber tribal district Mansoor Khan but he avoided to comment.