ISLAMABAD: In the last two months, the number of active cases of Kovid-19 in the country has come down by 75 percent and hospital admissions have come down four times.
However, in the last 24 hours, at least 698 people were infected with Kovid-19 and nine people succumbed to the virus. The national positivity is now 1.65 per cent.
Data released by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) shows that the number of active cases stood at 23,940 till October 25. Just two months ago, the number of active patients was around 90,000.
According to the data, on Monday, 1,591 patients of this virus were admitted to the hospital across the country. In August, the number of Covid-19 patients stood at 6,000.
PM’s aide says Pakistan close to eradicating polio
A total of 218 ventilators are now in use across the country. Similarly, the condition of oxygen beds has also improved.
So far 1,269,234 cases of coronavirus have been reported in Pakistan, out of which 1,216,908 patients have been cured and 28,386 have died.
The country has so far conducted over 20 million tests for Covid-19.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan has said that Pakistan is very close to eliminating the polio virus.
“We have been trying to eradicate this crippling disease since 1994, but now we should not waste this golden opportunity to become a polio free country. Despite the difficulties caused by Kovid-19, the virus was controlled in Pakistan This happened because of several successful polio campaigns launched across the country,” he said while presiding over a meeting.
He assured the people present in the meeting that all possible resources would be used to eliminate the polio virus.
Significantly, during the current year so far only one case of polio has been reported in the country. This case was found in Balochistan. In 2020, 84 cases of polio were reported in the country and in 2019 the figure was 147.
Polio is a highly contagious disease caused by the polio virus that mainly affects children under the age of five. It invades the nervous system, and can cause paralysis or death. While there is no cure for polio, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from this serious disease.
Every time a child under five is vaccinated, their protection against the virus increases. Repeated vaccination has saved millions of children from polio, making almost all countries of the world polio-free.
There are only two countries in the world – Pakistan and Afghanistan – that still have polio cases.
Pakistan remains under a polio-linked travel ban imposed by the World Health Organization, which requires everyone traveling abroad to carry a polio vaccination certificate since 2014.
Published in Dawn, October 26, 2021
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