Will there be another spike in COVID-19 infections in Pakistan after Bakra Eid?

[MenInG]

IK will need to be on top of this to avoid a spike but can he and his team do this?

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Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday appealed to the nation to mark the upcoming Eidul Azha with simplicity and take precautionary measures so that the number of Covid-19 cases in the country do not rise again.

He was speaking to the media after inaugurating the Isolation Hospital and Infectious Treatment Centre (IHITC) in Islamabad.

"The virus spreads rapidly when a large number of people gather," said the premier, saying "carelessness" on Eidul Fitr in May led to a spike in cases in Pakistan. "This led to pressure on our hospitals, our frontline workers also faced immense pressure, we unfortunately lost lives and the virus peaked.

"After Eid, we took steps to contain the virus, including imposing smart lockdowns [...] today, infections are decreasing. By the grace of the Almighty, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the cooperation of the provinces in implementing instructions — due to the joint efforts of everyone, Pakistan is now among those countries where infections are declining.

"Today, I want to make a special appeal to you all: if we are careless on Eidul Azha, the virus could spread again and there could be a fresh spike in the number of infections. Hospitals will come under pressure again. So I'm appealing to you all to mark this Eid with simplicity."

He said the government has come up with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Eidul Azha and how to carry out animal sacrifices. "I appeal to the entire nation to observe Eid with simplicity — for the sake of your country, its economy and especially the elderly and at-risk members of the society.

"If we take care now, then we can manage, God willing, to come out of this pandemic better than other countries."

Earlier, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt-Gen Mohammad Afzal briefed the prime minister on the isolation centre.

The 250-bed, state-of-the-art medical facility, according to Radio Pakistan, has been constructed in a record forty days at a cost of about Rs980 million.

Planning Minister Asad Umar, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing and other senior officials were also present at the inuaguration.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1567952/i...another-spike-in-covid-19-infections-warns-pm

 

[Arsal_AK]

They have a blueprint of what not to do in the form of Eid-ul-Fitr. The spike should not be as great as the one before if they show even a bit of planning and competence.

Having said that there will be a spike, it's ridiculous not to expect one.

 

[Varun]

It doesn't matter at this point, be it Pakistan or wherever else.

It's a runaway train, the opportunity to stop it has long gone.

 

[Syed1]

It doesn't matter at this point, be it Pakistan or wherever else.

It's a runaway train, the opportunity to stop it has long gone.

Ummm hellooo our peak has passed and we are on a downward trend. A lot of the countries in the world are displaying similar trends. Obviously supa powas India and USA are in a world of their own.



We could have a resurgence after Eid.

 

[Bewal Express]

The govt should keep educating and hope that people listen. If people don't listen they will have to live with the consequences.

 

[Varun]

Ummm hellooo our peak has passed and we are on a downward trend. A lot of the countries in the world are displaying similar trends. Obviously supa powas India and USA are in a world of their own.



We could have a resurgence after Eid.

Lol, sure. That is if you believe the official numbers being reported in our part of the world.

 

[Syed1]

Lol, sure. That is if you believe the official numbers being reported in our part of the world.

Ok mr expert

 

[Varun]

Ok mr expert

Why're you getting so edgy? It's not like I dissed Imran Khan.

Fact remains that the chunky procedure to schedule a test, take it and report accurate numbers is a trait missing in our part of the world. Since it's gone to community spread levels, all bets are off.

 

[Syed1]

Why're you getting so edgy? It's not like I dissed Imran Khan.

Fact remains that the chunky procedure to schedule a test, take it and report accurate numbers is a trait missing in our part of the world. Since it's gone to community spread levels, all bets are off.

You are painting the whole region with same brush.


Take a look below:

Punjab positive rate has fallen to 8% because of measures like this

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">My parents' cook tested positive 3 days ago. Today a govt team turned up at their place and tested everyone at home in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lahore?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Lahore</a>. Ma said she was the most proud of voting for <a href="https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ImranKhanPTI</a> today &#55357;&#56399;. This exact thing had already happened at my in laws house some weeks ago. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Covid19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Covid19</a></p>— Ravale Mohydin (@Ravale_Mohydin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ravale_Mohydin/status/1280193354454704128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Obviously there will be leakages and mishaps thats a given in South Asia, but to just say nothing is being done is disingenuous.

 

[Syed1]

You are painting the whole region with same brush.


Take a look below:




Obviously there will be leakages and mishaps thats a given in South Asia, but to just say nothing is being done is disingenuous.

Also the above isn't just one tweet. I can bring literally hundreds of these.

 

[the Great Khan]

Lol, sure. That is if you believe the official numbers being reported in our part of the world.

bro you cant hide deaths in our part of the world, i had this argument with the Mrs the other day. Even if the numbers are revised downwards, covid can kill off a street within a week in our part of the world. It has literally devastated the care homes in the uk. And I mean mass deaths in the 100's,

At one point they were burying 20 people per day in Muslim graveyards in preston. To they extent they had to dig mass graves. The brits have tried very hard to downplay this but these are reports in the public domain.

Imagine the same in india or pakistan..it would not remain hidden.

 

[MenInG]

Maybe something for Pak bakra sellers to look at?

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Prancing in front of a camera with its blond mane blowing in the wind, "007" is one of the thousands of goats being sold online as Muslims prepare for a key religious festival shaken this year by the coronavirus pandemic.

Millions of goats, sheep and cattle are slaughtered annually during Eid al-Adha - the festival of sacrifice - one of two major holy days observed by Muslims across the world, including some 600 million in South Asia.

The pandemic has, however, badly hit India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, which have shut or heavily restricted major markets, while fears of catching the virus are keeping customers away ahead of the main festival on Saturday.

"We were traumatised by the loss of two of my uncles to COVID-19 and didn't want to sacrifice an animal," Saddid Hossain told AFP news agency in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka.

"But we have to stay within our religious tradition, so we'd rather buy from an online cow seller."

Faced with deserted markets, livestock breeders and traders have turned to websites, apps and social media to showcase their animals.

Fahad Zariwala promotes goats like 007 from farms across India on his YouTube channel, which has more than 800,000 followers.

"I shoot a slow-motion video with beautiful music, and I make them [goats] popular," said Zariwala, who is based in Mumbai.

"They have a personality and are... mostly named after Bollywood movies and trending characters in Bollywood," he told AFP.

Zariwala has seen a huge increase in viewers from Australia, Britain, the United States and the Middle East, which all have large South Asian diasporas.

One farm he promotes runs online beauty contests to tempt potential customers, who might buy the goats for their families in India, home to 200 million Muslims.

PashuBajaar, which sells thousands of goats for Indian farmers, said online sales had jumped from a few dozen last year to more than 2,500 in the past three months.

"We've even received online orders for thousands for next year," Chief Executive Sanjeev Kumar told AFP.

The animals are delivered to buyers in trucks that can carry 10 to 15 at a time.

In Muslim-majority Pakistan, home to 215 million people, dozens of apps and websites have sprung up.

Buyers can select an animal and have it delivered to their doorstep, slaughtered or donated to a charity.

Qurbani App chief executive Muhammad Ali Chaudhry said: "Orders have gone through the roof."

Islamabad goat farmer Muhammad Naeem, meanwhile, said his digital transactions had jumped from 20 percent of sales to almost half.

But the rise in online sales has been accompanied by plunging prices.

Mumbai seller Walid Dawood Jat, who sold six goats online during India's lockdown, said they fetched just half their usual prices.

"We used to sell goats at 500-600 rupees [$6.70-$8.00] per kilo," he said, adding the price had fallen by half.

"Buyers haggle with us. They say they don't have money, their income is down."

In Dhaka's biggest cattle market, livestock sales are down from 400,000 a week in previous years to 30,000.

"Last year many people came. We were very busy," said trader Kalu Bepari, who travelled 245km (150 miles) to the market with 13 bulls, but has only sold two "for a very cheap price".

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...llers-online-eid-al-adha-200728051607810.html

 

[MenInG]

There have been protests and sporadic violence as traders across Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province defied a coronavirus-related nine-day provincial ban on retail business during the Eid season.

There were mixed reports from different cities about business closures today, the first day of the ban, with many markets partially reopening while others stayed shut.

The situation in Faisalabad and Rawalpindi, the second and third largest cities, turned more volatile.

In Faisalabad, the police had to use batons during a confrontation with defying traders, many of whom were arrested.

In Rawalpindi, markets mostly opened this morning and trade leaders led some protests, but there had been no challenge from the authorities until the last reports came in.

The traders’ associations had vowed to open businesses at a press conference on Monday, soon after the government announced business closure.

The protesters say the Punjab government has been unfair to traders as none of the other three provinces have ordered similar closures.

They say the days leading up to Eid are an important time for traders as sales go up, enabling them to pay off their suppliers, their home expenses and salaries of their staff.

source BBC

 

[MenInG]

Seems Bakra's getting special attention.

<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 50%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/v6sroa" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>

 

[globalcitizen]

let’s say people don’t heed the warnings
If cases spike , then it’s a bigger problem. That means Not much tests were done or lot of asymptomatic cases exist.
if cases hold steady that’s ideal outcome
Ofcourse people heeding to warning of authorities is best outcome but might mask inherent problems. tricky situation

 

[MenInG]

Pakistan on Saturday marked Eid-ul-Adha 2020 with religious zeal and fervor. Keeping in view the pandemic, masses offered the Eid prayers in accordance with the government's prescribed safety measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

In their sermons today, religious scholars highlighted the importance of following the Sunnah of Prophet Ibrahim (AS).

With coronavirus affecting the country's economy, President Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan have urged to help the poor and needy in these times of distress.

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[Kianig89]

Lets see what happens atm there is no S.o.p being followed business as usual though this downward trend is encouraging

 

[last_knight]

Crucial week. Stay safe everyone.

 

[PakLFC]

Unfortunately Dr Bill Gates has already told us the next stage is inevitable. We could even be made to wear glasses now.

 

[MenInG]

PESHAWAR: Experts have ruled out the possibility of a large-scale coronavirus outbreak on Eidul Azha like last Eidul Fitr saying a large number of people have recovered from the infection and developed immunity.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday recorded five Covid-19 deaths, which took its overall tally of the people killed by the virus to 1,199.

According to a government report, 98 more new people were diagnosed with coronavirus in the province, so the total count of such local cases reached 34,056.

Prof Khalid Mahmood at the Lady Reading Hospital told Dawn that a spike in Covid-19 cases was unlikely to happen after Eidul Azha.

“Eidul Azha is a bit different from Eidul Fitr as socialising, shopping and greeting are not that common,” he said.

The expert also said hot and humid weather and immunity in those people, who had recovered from coronavirus, were going to prevent the virus spread in the community.

Say humid weather, immunity in recovered cases to prevent Covid-19 spread

He said as 179 more patients had recovered, making an overall number of recovered people 28,629 (84 per cent).

“It is known that so far, the people who have recovered aren’t getting infection again due to the acquired immunity to the virus. The same is the case with many other viral diseases like measles and others.

“How long this immunity will last in recovered patients isn’t known, so race is on for vaccine development,” he said.

Prof Khalid said no concrete local data was available but as a wild guess, 20-30 per cent of the infection-prone and exposed population had had Covid-19, who were unlikely to contract the infection again due to immunity.

He said the population at risk had decreased, so the outbreak’s return may not be that bad.

CEO of Health Net Hospital Professor Mohammad Amjad Taqweem said ‘hot, sweaty and smelly’ whether won’t allow the Eidul Fitr like crowding on Eidul Azha and would provide protection against the virus.

“However, even small parties can prove dangerous. All gatherings, small or big carries risk. Pandemics have done this before. They become quiet, it appears as if they have died out but they come back. This pandemic is behaving exactly like the previous ones. I wish it disappears but the history tells it will come back with vengeance,” he said.

Vice-Chancellor of the Khyber Medical University Prof Ziaul Haq said the virus incidence was on the decline.

“We now know much about it, how to prevent, and manage it.”

The VC said many vaccine and treatment trials were under process.

“The Almighty Allah is so far very kind to Pakistan. Central and provincial governments, all public and private organisations, armed forces, police, business community, academia, print and electronic media, religious and political leaders from all sects, parties and most importantly the people with limited resources and a fragile health system have made themselves a role model for others,” he said.

He said Pakistan’s gains in the fight against Covid-19 was commendable but if SOPs were not followed on Eid and afterwards, cases could surge.

“As a public health specialist, I strongly recommend to community and government to not let your guard down, and it will be very unfortunate to loose from here. The same has happened with Spain and Australia where cases are again on rise,” he said.

The expert said we must not declare premature victory and continue living with ‘new normal’, which included respiratory (mask for all, and cough and sneezing into arm or tissues with safe disposal) and hand hygiene (washing frequently with soap for at least 20 seconds).

Prof Zia asked the people to avoid visiting crowded places, shaking of hands and hugging, maintain six feet physical distance and follow all others home and workplace SOPs.

“Remember its not yet over until a vaccine or some tangible treatment is developed or virus lose its potency. We are near to victory line but need more efforts to reach there. The last round is the most difficult and frustrating one but don’t forget the golden proverb “all is well that’s ends well,” he said.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1572217/experts-rule-out-repeat-of-eidul-fitr-virus-outbreak

 

[MenInG]

LAHORE: The Punjab province has witnessed a sudden increase in the number of Covid-19 new cases after Eidul Azha.

The everyday cases which had dropped to [on average] below 100 during the last one week, again increased to around 300.

Though, some medical experts were not perturbed and declared it a routine surge, others believed that it might be a signal for the beginning of the second wave of virus. Punjab reported 277 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 besides five deaths during the last 24 hours against 235 a day earlier.

Of the new cases, 100 were reported from Lahore against 52 a day before, 58 from Rawalpindi (54), 25 from Gujranwala, 13 from Multan (11 a day earlier), 11 from Sialkot, eight from Gujrat etc.

According to official figures released by the health department on Thursday, the total number of the confirmed cases in Punjab reached 93,847 including 47,729 in Lahore, 7,503 in Rawalpindi, 5,856 in Multan and 5,812 in Faisalabad.

The Punjab government performed 5,424 Covid-19 tests during the last 24 hours across the province. Of them most were conducted by the private labs.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1573026/sudden-surge-in-punjab-coronavirus-cases-after-eid

 

[MenInG]

Sindh reports 303 Covid-19 cases, 10 deaths

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that 303 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths were reported in the province during the past 24 hours.

In a statement, he said 8,288 tests were carried out. With the new cases, the provincial total has risen to 123,849 while the death toll is 2,272.

He added that 5,836 patients were currently under treatment.