Pakistan confirms first case of Omicron COVID variant | Coronavirus pandemic News

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistani health authorities have confirmed that they have detected the first case of the country’s Omicron variant of coronavirus, one week after the South Asian country extended its travel restrictions, in an attempt to slow its spread.

The National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) confirmed the detection of the Omicron variant, which is suspected of having higher transmittance rates than other variants, on Twitter. message on Monday.

“The Islamabad National Institutes of Health has been able to confirm that a recently suspected sample from Karachi is a ‘Omicron variant’ of SARS-CoV2,” the statement said.

“This is the first confirmed case, but there is ongoing monitoring of identified samples to identify trends.”

Last week, the health minister of the southern province of Sindh identified an alleged case of new strain in the province in a person without a vaccine.

“The virus is also spreading because people are not vaccinated, and this lady was not vaccinated either,” Dr. Azra Pechucho, the minister, said in a statement last week.

“It simply came to our notice then [gotten it] and if you have had two doses and six months have passed, definitely get your booster dose today. This will save you. ”

No evidence or data on the efficacy or efficacy of the vaccine against Omicron is currently available, although the World Health Organization (WHO) is conducting studies. he said.

According to the WHO, the Omicron variant has been detected in at least 63 countries around the world. It was first detected in samples from South Africa, but has since been seen in Europe and elsewhere.

“Growth Advantage”

The WHO says the Omicron variant appears to have a “growth advantage” over the Delta variant, which was a rapidly spreading “virus variant” of the first virus.

The WHO says studies are underway on the severity of the disease caused by the new strain.

“There are still limited data on the clinical severity of omicron,” a WHO statement said released on Friday.

“Although South Africa’s preliminary findings suggest it could be more serious than the Delta, and all cases reported therein [Europe] so far they have been mild or asymptomatic, it is not clear to what extent Omicron may be so virulent in itself. “

Compared to many countries around the world, Pakistan has had a relatively mild experience with the coronavirus pandemic so far, although there has been a steady rise in cases of cases that continue to be a concern for the country’s public health infrastructure.

On Monday, active cases were close to an all-time low of 9,048 cases and 731 patients in critical care, according to government data.

The number of tests in Pakistan has remained relatively low compared to the size of the country’s 207 million population. On Sunday, 39,387 tests were performed, a positive test of 0.62 percent, according to government data.

The positive test rate measures the percentage of tests that are returned with positive results.

Last week, Pakistan extended travel restrictions to include an almost complete ban on incoming travel from 15 countries, including the Netherlands, Croatia, Hungary, Ukraine, South Africa, Zimbabwe and many more.

Global concern about the spread of the highly mutated variant has grown since the WHO declared it a variant of concern in late November, and as a result, worldwide travel restrictions and restrictions have increased in social and economic activities around the world.

Asad Hashim is a digital correspondent for Pakistan’s Al Jazeera. He tweets @AsadHashim.