Shehri TV – Pakistan News, Current Affairs, Entertainment

  By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) To the disbelief of many, Karachi, the worst affected, among big cities of Pakistan, due to COVID-19 reported its daily new cases very marginally on October 11, which was 22 during the last 24 hours, taking the tally of the infections to 140,294 for the entire province. The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his daily COVID-19 statement on October 11, shared that in all 163 new cases were detected out of 8,497 tests across the province.  According to him, Karachi division’s four districts registered a total 22 new cases, while two others, South and Korangi, did not report any cases during the last 24 hours ending October 11 morning.  Karachi was the city which reported the first COVID-19 case of the country on February 26 and since then there had been no letup in term of the infection here. Since the outbreak the city reported on an average 400 new cases daily until October 10.  Keen observers were ...

  By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services) China has placed itself among three additional countries to have signed on to a global initiative aimed at ensuring fair and equitable access to a coronavirus vaccine once developed, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a UN specialized agency.  Together with South Korea and the tiny Pacific island of Nauru, China joined the COVAX Facility this week, bringing the total number of participating nations and economies to 171, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has announced during his regular media briefing in Geneva on the pandemic.  “The world is eagerly anticipating the results of trials of vaccines against COVID-19, which are needed for WHO authorization. Once we have an effective vaccine, we must also use it effectively, and the best way to do that is by making sure it’s available to all countries equitably through the COVAX Facility,” Tedros said.  The global mechanism will wo...

  By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) Though there was an impression that cases of COVID-19 were on increase again in Sindh, the authorities on October 10. confirmed an almost 50% decrease in number of samples tested for the virus across the province during the last 24 hours. The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his COVID-19 status statement, revealed that as many as 7,515 suspected samples were examined at different laboratories by October 10 morning, against the collective daily maximum capacity of 14,940 tests.  No reason was given for the reduced testing activities, while the daily new infection rate remained static around 3%.  The designated COVID-19 testing services had handled 11,138 samples during the 24 hours ending on October 9 morning, out of which 376 (3.37%) were found positive for the lethal virus.  According to the chief minister’s statement, as many as six new relevant fatalities were registered on October 10, while th...

  By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) Sindh registered another 267 new COVID cases, out of 9,918 suspected samples on October 3, against Pakistan’s 632 new infections during the last 24 hours, taking the tally of infection to 138,050 for the province. The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his daily COVID-19 status statement, informed that there were 4,719 infected people receiving treatment at Homes (4,440), isolation centres (7) and hospitals (272).  He further stated that of the patients admitted at hospitals, 201 were undergoing the critical phase, while another 39 were put on ventilators, as of morning of October 3.  In all, 1, out of 28 designated COVID-19 testing laboratories, handled the suspected samples during the last 24 hours.  These laboratories included LUMHS (5,188), Chughtai Lab (1,071), Indus Hospital (1,056), PMCD KU (894), AKUH (888) and others.  The district-wise breakdown of new cases came as: Karachi (195), Hy...

  By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) Amidst apprehension that COVID-19 was gaining momentum again in Sindh, Karachi’s daily infection rate remained almost static, though on the higher side, on October 2 when the authorities confirmed another 316 cases, with five related deaths, during the last 24 hours. The health authorities at Karachi registered 70.5% new cases out of Sindh’s daily tally of October 2. Earlier the megapolis reported 249 (69%) new cases on October 1, 221 (71%) on September 30, 297 (74%0 on September 29 and 185 (73.7% on September 27.  With five new relevant deaths the fatality tally for the province was pushed to 2,517 on October 2. However, no data and information related to deaths or cases specific status of districts were available on the Sindh health department’s website.  The only source of information relevant to COVID-19 was the Sindh Chief Minister’s statement which, according to an observer, was too little in this direction....

  By Masood Sattar Khan   (Pakistan News & Features Services) Oil prices fell five percent on October 2 after the US President, Donald Trump, tested positive for COVID-19 and negotiators failed to agree a US stimulus package just as rising global oil output threatened to overwhelm a weak price recovery.  Brent crude was reported to have slipped on the Trump news and was down $2.05, or 5.01 percent, at $38.88 a barrel by 1324 GMT. US oil was down $2.01, or 5.19 percent, at $36.71.  According to reports, the US and Brent crude were heading for drops of around nine percent and seven percent respectively this week for a second consecutive week of declines. “US unemployment data was a little bit below expectations but the oil price fall is part of the broader correction we’ve seen over the last few days driven by bearish macro sentimentand technical trading,” Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodity research at BNP Paribas, was quoted as saying.  “We’ve moved belo...

  By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) Sindh, with two related fatalities, reported over a half of the new COVID-19 cases detected in the country during the last 24 hours, taking the overall tally of the infected people to 312,806 for the country. As many as 10,940 suspected samples were tested across the Sindh confirming 311 new cases with a positivity rate of 2.8% during the last 24 hours ending September 30 morning against a total 34,239 samples tested in the country. Pakistan’s overall new infection rate stood at 1.6% same day. The details related to two new deaths in Sindh were not available as the Sindh health department’s officers remained silent about it. The daily situation report was updated for the last time on the department’s website on September 29.  The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in a COVID-19 related statement, disclosed that there were 4,255 active patients across the province on September 30, out of which 3978 (94%) were in ...

  By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) Amidst reports about increase in daily new COVID-19 infections up to 400 in the province, Sindh also witnessed a disturbing escalation in the number of patients utilizing ventilators in Karachi’s hospitals on September 29. Of the 274 patients hospitalized across the province, as of September 29, as many as 172 were stated to be having critical health condition, while another 37 were put on ventilators at Karachi hospitals against 19 on September 27 and 29 on September 28.  According to reports, a total of 19 patients were put on ventilators in the public sector hospitals against 10 such patients in private hospitals on September 28.  These patients were admitted at CHK, Karachi Trauma Centre, Lyari General Hospital, Infectious Diseases Centre, SIUT, LNH, Patel Hospital, AKUH, and Indus Hospital.  The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his routine COVID-19 statement, shared that there were 416 active...

  By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) Sindh, which in recent days has witnessed inconstancy in its daily new COVID-19 infection rates, is inching closer to 2,500 fatalities, while authorities on September 27 here confirmed six more out of nine deaths due to the lethal virus reported in the country, along with 251 new infections detected across the province during the last 24 hours. According to the data, Sindh’s daily infection rate maintained an uptrend on September 27, standing at 2.58%, which was 2.32% on September 26 and 1.42% on September 25.  In all 11,708 samples were handled by the designated laboratories in the province during the last 24 hours ending at 8 am on September 27, which confirmed 185 (74%) new positive cases at Karachi.  Karachi was followed by Hyderabad (7), Badin (7), Jacobabad (5), Jamshoro (4), Dadu (3), Larkana (2), Tando Allahyar (2), Ghotki (1), Shaheed Benazirabad (1), Khairpur (1), Sujawal (1), Sukkur (1) and others. ...

  By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) Rotary Club of Karachi Darakhshan (RCKD), with the collaboration of Library Promotion Bureau (LPB), will be organizing a seminar on the subject of COVID-19’s impact on libraries at the bureau’s record office, housed in Liaquat Memorial Library, Karachi, on September 30.  Prof Dr Ghani-ul-Akram Sabzwari and Prof Dr Nasim Fatima, two of the stalwarts of the profession of library and information science, along with some of the top Rotary leaders, will be sharing their thoughts on one of the most relevant topics these days.  Jahangir Moghul, a former District Governor of Rotary International besides being Charter President of RCKD, Asim Murtaza Khan, President, RCKD, and Syed Khalid Mahmood, Vice President, RCKD, will also speak in the session which will begin with introductory remarks from Syed Ahmed Naqvi of LPB while Waqas Moghul, Secretary, RCKD, will present vote of thanks.  The programme is being orga...

  Mukhtar Alam   (Pakistan News & Features Services) Sindh, after a gap of a couple of days, witnessed a downslide in its daily numbers of COVID-19 cases on September 25, though the laboratories tested the samples beyond their collective maximum daily testing capacity of 14,940 during the last 24 hours. Of the 16,976 samples examined during the last 24 hours, ending at 8 am on September 25, as many as 241 (1.42%) were declared new infections. The province’s daily infection rate was 2.5% on September 24 after being 2.22% on September 23.  Sindh had registered 135,488 infections, since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country on February 26, while 129,396 (95.5%) have recovered from the diseases.  The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his routine COVID-19 statement, shared that four more patients died during the last 24 hours in the province, taking the tally of the disease's fatalities to 2,481 for the province, against Pakistan’s overall death figure o...

  By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) Sindh’s daily COVID-19 infection rate continued rising for the third day running as the authorities in the government on September 24 confirmed detection of 401 new cases, with six more related fatalities across the province during the last 24 hours. According to the data, Sindh had the rate of new infections as 1.4% on September 22, which increased to 2.5% on September 24 morning, taking the overall infection tally to 135,246 for the province, 129,101 of which were reported to have recovered from the diseases, while 2,477 lost their lives.  The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his COVID-19 status statement on September 24, shared that as many as 3,668 patients were receiving treatment at homes (3,776), isolation centres (5) and hospitals (287). At hospitals, 135 were told to be critical condition, while 14 were put on ventilators.  In all 16,093 samples were examined at COVID-19 laboratories across Si...

  By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) Sindh, with its fluctuating daily COVID-19 infection rates, registered three of the four related deaths reported in the country on September 21 when authorities here confirmed 296 new infections, out of 15,211 samples, during the last 24 hours. Pakistan’s fourth COVID-19 fatality of the day was reported from Punjab, which had 59 new cases on September 21.  Sindh registered an average 284 cases daily during the week till September 21.  The daily new case numbers ranged from 227 to 341, while its total positive case tally came as 134,243.  The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his statement related to the COVID-19 status, shared that as many as 128,494 patients had recovered from the diseases, while 3,286 more, including 2,930 in home isolation, five in isolation centres and 351 in hospitals, were receiving treatment for the disease.  He further stated that condition of 175 patients was stated c...

  By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services) The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), on September 22, has announced the launch of phase 3 clinical trials in Pakistan for a potential vaccine being developed by China’s CanSino Biologics for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).  The trials for the first couple of phases for the vaccine were held in China. Pakistan, under a public-private partnership between the National Institute of Health (NIH) and CanSino, is among the countries which will carry out Phase 3, the NCOC declared.  The NIH Executive Director, Maj Gen Aamer Ikram, and the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr Faisal Sultan, during their joint press conference, described the trial as an important step in which the Pakistanis will also be taking part. “The entire world is looking towards a vaccine right now. There are seven vaccines for which trials are being conducted, three of them developed in China. This CanSino vacci...

  By Mukhtar Alam   (Pakistan News & Features Services) Karachi division recorded 70% of the new COVID-19 cases detected across the province of Sindh on September 20 when one more patient was reported expired due to the virus during the last 24 hours. Official reports revealed that in all 321 new cases were registered in 18 districts during the last 24 hours ending September 20 morning, with an overall daily infection rate of 2.43%, against 1.83% calculated on September 19.  According to official COVID-19 data, Karachi registered an average 157 new cases every day during the week ending September 20.  Its share in the total new cases reported across the province remained 53% on September 17, which increased up to 73% by September 19.  Karachi’s different districts have so far added 86,512 COVID-19 cases to the overall Sindh’s tally, including the maximum 25852 from East district where a total 684 patients lost their lives due to the diseases in hospitals and...

  By Mukhtar Alam   (Pakistan News & Features Services) Sindh for the third time reported no COVID-19 fatality on September 19 when authorities confirmed 264 new cases during the last 24 hours across the province. Since the outbreak of the lethal virus in the country, the province registered deaths among the virus infected patients every day, excepting September 5, 14 and 19.  As of morning of September 19, according to official data, Sindh’s total of COVID-19 laboratory tests stood as 1,214,790, out of which 133,626 were found positive.  The province’s overall infection rate remained 11%, against 9.67% of Pakistan. National dashboard on COVID-19 revealed that Sindh’s 264 (1.8%) positive cases came out of 14,352 samples examined during the last 24 hours.  With 94 more patients recovered from the disease on September 19, taking the total of cured people to 128,239, while the death tally remained unchanged at 2,459, for the province. The district wise breakdow...

  By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Sindh Minister for Education and Labour, Saeed Ghani, announced that the government has decided to defer the reopening of middle schools until September 23 as there were reports confirming the COVID-19 infections among teaching staff.  "Unfortunately, educational institutions, both private and public, are not fully implementing the prescribed standard operating procedures," he observed in a press statement, while referring to his visits to some of the institutions allowed to resume teaching for Class IX and above classes from September 15 in the province.  “Despite our efforts, we are seeing a lot of flaws and violations. Therefore we are delaying the second phase of resuming grade 6-8 classes. These classes were slated to resume on September 21 but now it will be pushed back to September 28, if the situation concerning the virus improves. But if the situation remains the same, we might review the decision on S...

  By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) Sindh, being unable to witness any consistency in its COVID-19 infection rates had its daily infection rate crossed 2% on September 17 when authorities confirmed detection of 307 new cases, with four more related fatalities, during the last 24 hours in the province. The provincial figures of the new cases increased by 35% against the daily cases reported on September 16. The daily infection rate was recorded at 1.37% on September 14, which changed to 2.49%, 1.70% and 2.20% on September 15, 16 and 17, respectively.  The COVID-19 data suggest that the province has been unable to witness any mark difference in terms of new infection during the last about one month.  The province, which had been reporting over 300 new cases per day in the mid-August, even registering about 300 cases after a lapse of one month, keen observers noted and cautioned extra vigilance and preventive measures to avert any untoward, particularly...

  By Abdul Qadir Qureshi  (Pakistan News & Features Services)   The Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, taking into account the COVID-19 related concerns, has suspended its academic activities for a couple of days, starting from September 17. The main campus, housed in the premises of the University of Karachi, as well as the city campus, located in the Garden area, will remain open for operational matters throughout this period, however. They will continue providing the normal facilities. The IBA Academic Board has decided that all classes for the various undergraduate degree programs would be based on flexible learning system for the time being.  “Flexible learning system is where the classes would be conducted online while all IBA facilities would remain open and available to the undergraduate students including the classrooms. However, the Graduate programs students will attend the classes on campus,” it was announced.  As part of the Fl...

  By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) Sindh registered yet another 227 cases of COVID-19 infection, with three related fatalities during the last 24 hours, taking the overall tally of infection to 132,818 for the province on September 16. According to the national dashboard on COVID-19, Sindh reported 42% of the total of 545 new cases across the country on September 16, while Sindh added three of the four to the overall daily tally in Pakistan.  The COVID laboratories in the province collectively tested 13,314 samples, against Pakistan’s 31,808, during the last 24 hours ending September 16 morning.  An official report said that the LUMHS laboratory at Hyderabad tested the maximum 8,155 samples, out of which 55 were positive for coronavirus, including 47 new infections, followed by Indus hospital laboratory at Karachi, which examined 1,589 samples and found 41 positive.  The report revealed that among the targeted areas, shopping malls presented th...