F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: In a bid to contain spread of coronavirus, the government of Pakistan has decided to suspend all flight operations from 08:00pm tonight until next two weeks.
The decision has been taken after consultation with Prime Minister Imran Khan.
PIA cancels international flights
Pakistan International Airline (PIA) on the directives of federal government has cancelled all the international flights from 2000 hours this evening to 28th of this month.
People have been advised to contact PIA call center for further information and change in booking dates.
On the other hand, Pakistan has partially reopened Chaman border with Afghanistan for the transportation of food items. DC Qillah Abdullah District Muhammad Bashir said the step has been taken as per the agreement concluded with the Afghan authorities.
He said about one hundred and fifty seven containers loaded with food items including vegetables and fresh fruit have been dispatched to Afghanistan.
Pedestrian movement on the border remains suspended.
Earlier, in a tweet, Prime Minister Imran Khan instructed to open the Chaman-Spin Boldak border and let the trucks crossover into Afghanistan.
Pakistan sealed its border with Iran last week, but not before hundreds of pilgrims returned home from the Islamic Republic, which has been one of the countries worst affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
Number of confirmed cases in Pakistan has surged to 543 as 267 patients have been tested positive for the epidemic in Sindh, 104 in Balochistan, 104 in Punjab, 27 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 30 in Gilgit-Baltistan, ten in Islamabad and one Azad Kashmir
Pakistan has so far confirmed three fatalities from the pandemic, with latest casualty being a 77-year-old man in Karachi on Friday (yesterday). The first two deaths were reported in Mardan and Hangu of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The World Health Organization (WHO), a UN agency, has warned young people that they are not exempted from the risks of the novel coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 270,000 people worldwide and left more than 11,000 others dead.
“Today, I have a message for young people: You are not invincible.” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday during a news conference in Geneva.
“This coronavirus could put you in hospital for weeks, or even kill you. Even if you don’t get sick, the choices you make about where you go could be the difference between life and death for someone else,” Tedros said.
So far most warnings about the novel coronavirus have focused on vulnerable populations, including older adults and those with underlying conditions.
But WHO officials said data from many countries clearly shows that people younger than 50 make up a significant proportion of patients requiring hospitalization.
Tedros’ comments come after earlier research indicated young adults were largely spared from serious complications from the coronavirus, and adults older than 60 and those with underlying medical conditions, like diabetes or heart and lung disease, were mostly at risk.
He said he is grateful so many people are, “spreading the word and not the virus,” adding, “everyday, we are learning more about this coronavirus and the disease it causes. One of the things we are learning is that although older people are the hardest hit, younger people are not spared.”
WHO said it is concerned if COVID-19 should gain a foothold in countries with weaker health systems, or with vulnerable populations, noting that it could lead to significant sickness and loss of life.
“But that is not inevitable”, Tedros said. “Unlike any pandemic in history, we have the power to change the way this goes”.
Citing that Wuhan, a city in China, where coronavirus originated, reported no new cases for the first time since the outbreak started, he said that that “provides hope for the rest of the world, that even the most severe situation can be turned around”.
While WHO is working actively to support all countries, the collapse of the personal protective equipment (PPE) market “has created extreme difficulties in ensuring health workers have access to the equipment they need to do their jobs safely and effectively”, the WHO chief said. click here.
Fortunately, he said, producers in China have agreed to supply WHO with PPE and arrangements are underway for shipments.
“We are also working hard to increase the global supply of diagnostic tests”, Tedros said, noting that WHO is working to evaluate new diagnostics and secure the supply and equitable distribution of tests.
In closing, the WHO chief acknowledged that “COVID-19 is taking so much from us”.
“But”, he added “it’s also giving us something special – the opportunity to come together as one humanity – to work together, to learn together, to grow together”.
