Health

KRAKOW: When the pandemic began last year, Kinga Szlachcic-Wyroba, an anaesthesiologist in the Stefan Zeromski Specialist Hospital in Krakow, Poland, had to manage one COVID-19 patient and 10 others in intensive care with three other doctors. Now the third wave has hit Poland and the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care stands at 17, with just four non-COVID sufferers. …

KARACHI: The United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil variants of the coronavirus might be responsible for the current severe third wave of Covid-19 in Pakistan, says a recent study. The study, which analysed 3,501 positive samples, found that these variants were responsible for causing 54 per cent of new Covid-19 infections reported from December 2020 to February 2021 in Karachi. …

ISLAMABAD: While a record number of Covid-19 tests were conducted in a day since the beginning of the pandemic, the country reported another highest number of coronavirus cases in the last 10 months. All federating units have issued different schedules for vaccination, bifurcating timings in morning and evening shifts. Moreover, after confirmation of a number of Covid-19 cases, the Senate …

COPENHAGEN: Denmark on Wednesday announced it would stop using the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine altogether, becoming the first European country to do so over suspected rare but serious side effects. “Denmark’s vaccination campaign will go ahead without the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Danish Health Authority director Soren Brostrom told journalists, despite recommendations from the World Health Organisation and Europe’s medicines watchdog to keep …

DHAKA: Thousands of police patrolled the empty streets of the Bangladesh capital on Wednesday as the government enforced a strict nationwide lockdown to combat a deadly new coronavirus wave. Normally jammed with some of Asia’s worst gridlock, Dhaka took on the air of a ghost town as officers set up checkpoints across the city of 20 million people to ensure …

MUMBAI: India’s new coronavirus infections hit a record level on Wednesday with Mumbai set to be locked down at midnight, but hundreds of thousands of pilgrims still thronged to a religious festival in the north of the country. The country reported 184,372 cases in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed, taking total infections to 13.9 million. Deaths rose …

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded 29 deaths and 1,245 cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday as the doctors working in coronavirus rapid response teams threatened to go on strike for regularisation of service. The pandemic claimed 13 lives in Peshawar, eight in Mardan eight, five in Swat, and one each in Swabi, Buner and Abbottabad. Peshawar and Mardan districts recorded 483 and …

Lahore: Two employees of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have passed away after contracting the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), ARY Sports reported. According to details, Hafiz Mohammad Bilal was associated with the PCB domestic cricket department. Falak Sher belonged to the PCB Security Department. Both employees were working from home under the board policy. Under the PCB policy, 30% of the staff …

NEW DELHI: India on Sunday banned the export of anti-viral drug Remdesivir and its active pharmaceutical ingredients as demand rocketed due to a record surge in Covid-19 infections, leading to a crippling shortages in many parts. Authorities have blamed the ferocious resurgence of the virus mainly on crowding and a reluctance to wear masks. Still, religious gatherings have continued and …

Pakistan will receive 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine under the Covax facility, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced on Monday after a meeting with his German counterpart ​Heiko Maas. Qureshi, who is on a two-day visit to Germany, said the 15m doses would be delivered by May. The Covax scheme is aimed at ensuring equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines. …