Health

PESHAWAR: No death was recorded due to Covid-19 on Wednesday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. The province used to record mortalities due to the virus almost on daily basis since it claimed the first life in Mardan in March last year. The death of a resident of Mardan was also the first …

With Eidul Azha less than two weeks away, officials in Balochistan reported two Congo virus cases on Thursday. The cases were confirmed by Dr Sadiq Baloch, additional medical superintendent at Quetta’s Fatima Jinnah Chest and General Hospital. He said the two patients had been placed in an isolation ward. “Their condition is stable,” he said. According to the official, one …

ISLAMABAD: As many as two million more doses of Sino­vac vaccine reached Pakistan from China on Tuesday. On the other hand, the Natio­nal Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) confirmed presence of different variants of coronavirus, including the delta (Indian), beta (South African) and alpha (UK) variants, in Pakistan and detection of their cases in May and June. According to a …

Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) — the nerve centre of Pakistan’s coronavirus response — the team of the Ehsaas Programme and the State Bank of Pakistan after The Economist ranked Pakistan among the best performing countries for handling the coronavirus pandemic. The Economist’s normalcy index tracks the progress of 50 countries’ return to pre-pandemic life on the …

JAKARTA: Indonesia said on Tuesday it was importing emergency oxygen from neighbouring Singapore as hospitals crumbled under the weight of Covid-19, with the Delta variant continuing to wreak havoc around the globe. Faced with the threat of the highly infectious strain which continues to exact a heavy toll in human tragedies and to disrupt sports events worldwide, the global vaccination …

SEOUL: South Korea reported more than 1,200 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the highest daily count since late December, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum told a COVID-19 response meeting on Wednesday. Kim said social distancing measures will be extended for the next few days and officials will consider whether to toughen existing rules as the country battles a …

Three cricketers and four staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Tuesday. Following PCR tests carried out on Monday in Bristol, three players and four management team members of the men’s ODI party tested positive, the ECB said. “In collaboration with Public Health England, Public Health Wales and Bristol Local …

Israel reported on Monday a decrease in the effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in preventing infections and symptomatic illness but said it remained highly effective in preventing serious illness. The decline coincided with the spread of the Delta variant and the end of social distancing restrictions in Israel. Vaccine effectiveness in preventing both infection and symptomatic disease fell to …

ISLAMABAD: While the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) warned of re-imposing restrictions in the wake of severe violations of standard operating procedures (SOPs), Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Monday criticised Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif for holding a public meeting in Swat. On the other hand, the NCOC has decided …

NEW YORK: Americans marked their nation’s 245th birthday on Sunday with fireworks that may look brighter, hotdogs that may taste juicier and marching bands that may sound jauntier after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of nearly all celebrations last year. As always, fireworks displays are the highlight of the July Fourth holiday. Two of the biggest pyrotechnic shows in …