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COVID claims two more lives; 693 fresh cases reported in Pakistan

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2 years ago

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  • NIH data indicates a marginal increase in new COVID-19 cases in Pakistan.
  • 23,423 diagnostic tests were performed in the last 24 hours.
  • Positivity ratio in the last 24 hours was 2.96% across the country.

A marginal increase was witnessed on Saturday in new COVID-19 cases in Pakistan, data from the National Institute of Health, Islamabad (NIH) showed.

According to the NIH data, 23,423 diagnostic tests were performed in the last 24 hours, with 693 returning positive, indicating a 2.96% positivity ratio.

The virus claimed two more lives in the last 24 hours, bringing up the national toll to 30,464.

NIH said 180 COVID-19 patients are still being treated in intensive-care units (ICU) at various medical facilities across the country.

What is COVID BA.5 variant?

BA.5, part of the Omicron family, is the latest coronavirus variant to cause widespread waves of infection globally.

According to the World Health Organisation’s most recent report, it was behind 52% of cases sequenced in late June, up from 37% in one week. In the United States, it is estimated to be causing around 65% of infections.

BA.5 is not new. First identified in January, it has been tracked by the WHO since April.

It is a sister variant of the Omicron strain that has been dominant worldwide since the end of 2021 and has already caused spikes in case rates — even with reduced testing — in countries including South Africa, where it was first found, as well as the United Kingdom, parts of Europe, and Australia.

Coronavirus cases worldwide have now been rising for four weeks in a row, WHO data showed.

Why is it spreading?

Like its closely related sibling, BA.4, BA.5 is particularly good at evading the immune protection afforded either by vaccination or prior infection.

For this reason, “BA.5 has a growth advantage over the other sublineages of Omicron that are circulating,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, told a news briefing on Tuesday.

For many people, this means that they are getting re-infected, often even a short time after having COVID-19. Van Kerkhove said the WHO is assessing reports of re-infections.

“We have ample evidence that people who’ve been infected with Omicron are getting infected with BA5. No question about it,” said Gregory Poland, a virologist and vaccine researcher with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

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Drugs worth $1 million are seized by the Pakistan Navy in the North Arabian Sea.

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Pakistan Navy Ship PNS MOAWIN, according to ISPR, used naval air assets to perform a boarding operation on a suspicious boat and confiscate the drugs that were concealed in the ship’s hidden compartments.

An estimated one million US dollars is the international market value of the narcotics that were seized.

International shipping lanes were being used to deliver this shipment of drugs.

Within the region’s maritime borders, the Pakistan Navy is always engaged in stopping all types of illicit activity, ISPR continued.

A spokesperson for the ANF Headquarters stated that earlier, during seven operations, another security unit of the nation’s anti-narcotics unit (ANF) seized more than 149 kg of drugs valued at more than Rs 40 million and detained four drug dealers.

He reported that 30 capsules containing heroin had been found in the stomach of a traveler at Peshawar International Airport who was headed to Jeddah.

Another operation resulted in the arrest of a suspect after 31 inebriated tablets were found in a package close to an Islamabad park.

150 grams of ice were found in a package that was shipped to Australia via a Karachi courier service.

90 kilograms of opium and 10 kg of heroin that had been concealed for smuggling were found during an operation in the Balochistani district of Chagai.

In the fifth operation, 45 kg of hashish was found in an uninhabited part of Balochistan’s Coastal Line Pasni. Three kilograms of hashish were found in Hyderabad on a suspect.

During the seventh operation, 500 grams of ice and 1 kilogram of heroin were found in the custody of a biker who was stopped close to the Iqbal Shaheed Toll Plaza Attock.

Additional investigations are underway, and cases have been filed under the Narcotics Control Act against the arrested suspect.

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Outsourcing of Airports: Deputy Prime Minister Commits to Transforming Aviation into a Profitable Sector

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2 days ago

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Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has instructed the implementation of all feasible measures to render aviation a viable industry and to enhance service quality for travelers.

He provided these directives while presiding over a meeting in Islamabad concerning the outsourcing of airports and the advancement of the aviation sector.

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Punjab Food Authority Seals Mini-Factory Manufacturing Counterfeit Milk in Nankana Sahib

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2 days ago

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The Punjab Food Authority’s food safety team has sealed a mini-factory manufacturing counterfeit milk and has destroyed thousands of liters of contaminated milk.

The Punjab Food Authority spokeswoman stated that the team executed the operation in the Sayeddwala region of Nankana Sahib.

The food safety team conducted a raid on the milk plant, where counterfeit milk was being produced using hazardous and banned substances.

The crew secured the factory, confiscated the goods, and filed a case against the plant owners at Syedwala Police Station.

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