KARACHI: The delta variant of the novel coronavirus, which was first detected in India, has become the dominant strain in Karachi, said Professor M. Iqbal Choudhary, director of the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences, while talking to Arab News on Thursday, shortly after the country’s health chief, Dr. Faisal Sultan, informed in a Twitter post that the positivity ratio in Pakistan’s southern port city had surged to 19 percent.
“Our latest report today has identified the delta variant in 69 percent of COVID-19 patients, whereas 26 percent are infected with an unknown strain which is probably delta-plus virus,” Choudhary said, adding that his organization was working to sequence the unidentified variant.
“One can assume that every COVID-19 patient in Karachi is infected with the delta variant,” he added. “The infection rate of the strain is 60 percent higher than the virus originally detected in Wuhan.”
Choudhary informed that the health of the patients suffering from the delta variant could rapidly deteriorate after the emergence of symptoms which were different from other strains.
He told Arab News that he had also briefed the provincial authorities about the situation, urging its officials to take a quick action.
Asked about the dominant form of the virus infecting people in the city, Rasheed Channa, a spokesperson for the Sindh chief minister, said: “We are going to review the situation on Monday and take decisions accordingly.”
However, the Sindh administration has already decided to close schools and impose a ban on indoor dining to avert another wave of the pandemic from setting in.
The provincial health department also proposed shutting down primary schools on Monday and suggested to keep businesses closed for two days a week in view of the rising positivity rate across the province.
Last month, the Pakistan government lifted nearly all coronavirus restrictions around the country as infection figures showed a constant decline. However, these numbers have shot up once again, prompting health officials to consider new curbs.
The country reported 2,545 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the total number of infections to 981,392 since the beginning of the pandemic in the country.
Out of a total population of 220 million, 125 million people are eligible for vaccination in Pakistan, though the government has only managed to administer 21 million doses to date.
Pakistan’s planning minister Asad Umar also urged people on Thursday to follow the officially prescribed health guidelines and get themselves vaccinated, saying there was a “rapid” increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals and critical care units.
“Rapid build up starting to take place in covid patients hospital inflow, as well as patients in critical care,” Umar said on Twitter. “Do not risk your own & others lives.”
Umar also warned about the delta variant, reminding everyone it had caused devastation in other countries of the region.
The delta variant is more easily transmitted than earlier versions of the coronavirus and is suspected to cause more severe disease, especially among younger people.
Scientists are still tracking the data to determine how deadly it is. Based on hospitalizations in the UK, the delta variant seems to be more likely to lead to hospitalization and death, particularly among unvaccinated people, according to a recent study published in The Lancet.
Delta becomes dominant variant as positivity rate surges to 19% in Pakistan’s Karachi
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Delta becomes dominant variant as positivity rate surges to 19% in Pakistan’s Karachi
- A recent report say 69 percent COVID-19 patients in Karachi suffer from the delta strain while 26 percent have contracted an unknown variant
- Sindh government says it will review the situation on Monday, though it has already closed schools and banned indoor dining in the province
Rejuvenated Amir back for ‘unfinished work’ at T20 World Cup
- Amir was selected at the age of 15 by none other than great left-armer Wasim Akram at a fast-bowling camp
- He says his short-term goal is to win World Cup, adds it’s hard to describe the feeling of playing for Pakistan
KARACHI: Rejuvenated fast bowler Mohammad Amir said he has “unfinished work” at next month’s T20 World Cup, 15 years after dazzling as a teenager when Pakistan last lifted the trophy.
The 32-year-old, who was jailed for spot-fixing in 2011, came out of retirement last month and is grateful to have another crack at the World Cup.
“It’s a great feeling to be playing for Pakistan again,” Amir told AFP by phone from Lahore this week ahead of the tournament in the United States and the West Indies beginning on June 2.
“I want to complete the unfinished work and, for me, the short-term goal is to win the World Cup.”
The young Amir impressed in all formats after breaking into the Pakistan side in 2009 and playing at the T20 World Cup.
Within a year he was one of the hottest young talents in cricket, but his precocious career then crashed to an infamous halt in 2010.
Amir was one of three Pakistan players banned from cricket for five years for spot-fixing during a Test match in England after being caught in a newspaper sting. He was later jailed in the UK for six months.
Pakistan captain Salman Butt, who was deemed the ringleader, and fellow quick bowler Mohammad Asif were also banned and the pair were jailed for 30 and 12 months respectively.
Amir returned after his ban to play for Pakistan in 2016 but announced a shock retirement in December 2020 after poor form kept him from being selected.
He will form a potent pace bowling attack with spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf that sees Pakistan ranked among the World Cup favorites.
“The Pakistan Cricket Board and the team management have shown trust in me so I have to fulfil that trust,” said Amir.
“I have come back after four years and when you play for your country the feeling cannot be described.”
Amir played three of the four T20 home matches against New Zealand last month, taking three wickets in a 2-2 drawn series, and said he felt part of the attack again.
“To be honest I felt fitter than in 2019 and until you are fit you cannot express yourself, so I am ready to do better and better,” said Amir.
He will be in action when Pakistan travel to Ireland for three T20s in Dublin on May 10, 12 and 14.
Pakistan then move to England to play the defending T20 world champions in Leeds (May 22), Birmingham (May 25), Cardiff (May 28) and London (May 30).
Brought up in Changa Bangial village in Punjab province, some 60 kilometers from the capital Islamabad, Amir was determined to make his name in cricket after his five older brothers introduced him to playing.
He was picked out at the age of 15 by none other than great left-armer Wasim Akram at a fast-bowling camp and within two years grew in height and overcame a stress fracture of the back.
Amir said now he only wanted to remember the good events in his career.
“The 2009 Twenty20 World Cup winning memories are special and excite me to this day,” said Amir, who took six wickets in seven matches in the tournament.
They included the prize dismissal of Sri Lanka opener Tillakaratne Dilshan — the player of the tournament — in Pakistan’s eight-wicket final victory.
“I was selected for the first time and then became part of a champion team.
“When I landed (back) at Rawalpindi airport to go to my village there were so many cars and they were showering flowers on me,” he recalled.
“I am lucky that I am still playing. When I came, I was the youngest in the team, so here I am having another chance to win the World Cup and that is the target for me and my team.”
Indian cricket official says will send team to Pakistan only with government’s permission
- Pakistan are expected to host Champions Trophy tournament from February to March 2025
- No Indian team has traveled to Pakistan for cricket since 2008 due to deteriorating political relations
ISLAMABAD: A senior official of the Indian cricket board this week confirmed that it would send its team next year to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy tournament only if its central government gave it permission to do so.
Pakistan is expected to host the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 tournament from February to March 2025. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has proposed three venues for the tournament— Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi, according to local and international media reports. However, out of the eight participating teams, a question mark looms over whether the Indian cricket team will travel to Pakistan for the tournament.
The last time an Indian cricket team traveled to Pakistan for a cricket event was in 2008 for the Asia Cup. The Nov. 26 2008 Mumbai attacks caused a severe strain in India-Pakistan relations, forcing both teams to play against each other only during international events and at “neutral venues.”
As hosts of the Asia Cup last year, Pakistan were forced to agree to a hybrid model according to which India played all of their matches, including those against Pakistan, in Sri Lanka. Though Pakistan raised the prospect of a hybrid model for their presence in the ODI World Cup in India last year, they ended up playing all their games in the neighboring country.
“In the case of the Champions Trophy, we will do whatever the government of India will tell us to do,” Rajeev Shukla, vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) told Indian news agency ANI on Monday.
“We send our team only when the government of India gives us permission.”
According to cricket website ESPNcricinfo, Pakistan has proposed hosting all of India’s Champions Trophy matches in the eastern city of Lahore. The website reported that hosting all of India’s matches in Lahore would mean less logistical and security headaches around their travel. Additionally, the Wagah border crossing in Lahore allows Indian fans a relatively easier option to visit.
Pakistan are defending champions of the ICC Champions Trophy. The green shirts won the trophy under former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed in 2017 at The Oval in London after thrashing India by 180 runs to win the tournament. Champions Trophy 2017 was thought to be the last edition of the tournament until the ICC brought it back in the new rights cycle (2023-2027) and awarded Pakistan the hosting rights for the 2025 edition.
At UN General Assembly, Pakistan proposes collective efforts to thwart space weaponization
- Pakistan’s UN ambassador says threats in and from outer space have “escalated sharply” in recent years
- Expresses concern over deployment of missile defense systems, their integration with space technologies
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations this week proposed collective action against the weaponization of outer space, citing proliferation of destructive weapons in the territory by major powers during a debate at the UN General Assembly.
Munir Akram, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, was speaking at a debate at the General Assembly on Monday over Russia’s decision last month to veto a draft US-Japan resolution that called on countries to prevent an arms race in outer space. The Security Council rejected the resolution by a vote of 13 in favor to one against, with China abstaining from the vote.
The vote came after Washington accused Moscow of developing an anti-satellite nuclear weapon to put in space. Russia has denied the allegations, with its President Vladimir Putin saying Moscow was against putting nuclear weapons in space.
During his speech at the UN General Assembly, Akram said threats to security in and from outer space have “escalated sharply” in recent years, adding that it was evident from the placement of weapons in space.
“Ambassador Munir Akram called for the issue of weaponization of outer space to be transmitted to the Conference on Disarmament for further consideration and urged collective action to preserve outer space for peaceful purposes,” a press release from Pakistan’s permanent mission to the UN said on Tuesday.
Akram said Pakistan has always maintained a principled position that resolutions on global disarmament should be deliberated and concluded in a transparent manner. He called for doing so at appropriate forums such as the Conference on Disarmament, the UN Disarmament Commission, and the first Committee of the General Assembly.
“In his statement, Ambassador Akram underscored the gravity of the situation, citing the proliferation of weapons in space and the increasing militarization of outer space by major powers,” the statement said. “He expressed concern over the deployment of missile defense systems and their integration with outer space technologies, warning of the destabilizing impact on global and regional security.”
He said if nuclear weapons were deployed in outer space, it would constitute a violation of the Outer Space Treaty. Akram highlighted the need for multilateral cooperation, particularly within the Conference of Disarmament, to address growing threats posed by outer space’s weaponization.
Pakistan is eager to take strides in its own space program. China last Friday launched a Pakistani satellite, ‘ICUBE-Qamar’ or ICUBE-Q into outer space, which is set to enter the lunar orbit on a high-stakes moon mission to reach the lunar side. The launch was part of China’s Chang’e-6 mission, a planned robotic lunar exploration mission, that aims to obtain the first-ever soil and rock samples from the lunar far side and return them to Earth.
The satellite was designed and developed by IST (Pakistan’s Institute of Space Technology) with China’s Shanghai University and Pakistan’s national space agency SUPARCO, state media had reported.
A senior ICT official who was co-lead on the project said last week that this is Pakistan’s first deep space mission, describing it as a “historic moment.”
Pakistan eye third victory in Azlan Shah hockey tournament against Japan today
- Pakistan beat hosts Malaysia and South Korea 5-4, 4-0 respectively last week
- 30th edition of Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is being played in Malaysia from May 4-11
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan men’s field hockey team will face Japan today, Tuesday, in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup clash in Ipoh, state-run media reported, as the green shirts eye a third victory in the tournament.
Pakistan have already won the two matches they have played in the tournament so far against hosts Malaysia, and South Korea. Pakistan beat a strong Malaysian side 5-4 on Saturday to win their opening contest of the cup before thrashing South Korea 4-0 on Sunday.
“In the 30th Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup, Pakistan in their third match will play against Japan at Ipoh in Malaysia today,” state-run Radio Pakistan reported, adding that the match is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.
Pakistani players Abdul Hanan Shahid, Arshad Liaqat, Ghazanfar Ali and Sufiyan Khan scored goals against South Korea to ensure the national team dominated the match on Sunday. Pakistan’s defense did an impressive job to contain the Korean hockey team, thwarting their efforts to score a single goal.
The 30th edition of the prestigious field hockey tournament is being played in Ipoh, Malaysia from 4-11 May. The cup will be contested between six teams, namely Canada, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Korea.
The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2024 will see a round-robin stage at first where all six participating teams will play against each other once, followed by positional playoffs.
The teams finishing in the bottom two places of the league stage will contest in a fifth-place classification match. Teams finishing in third and fourth place in the pool stage will compete for bronze, while the top two teams will play in the final for the title.
All participating teams, except Japan, will be heading to Gniezno in Poland shortly after the tournament to participate in the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup. There the title and an opportunity to be promoted to the FIH Hockey Pro League will be at stake.
Pakistan Cricket Board launches national team’s kit for T20 World Cup 2024
- Pakistan will take part in T20 World Cup 2024 scheduled to kick off in United States on June 2
- Green shirts will play separate T20I series against Ireland, England this month to prepare for mega event
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) this week launched the national team’s kit for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, scheduled to kick off next month in the United States and West Indies.
Cricket boards launch their national team’s kit before mega tournaments such as the World Cup. At a ceremony held in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore on Monday night, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi launched the Pakistan team’s “Matrix Jersey” at the Qaddafi Stadium.
“Unveiled the new kit of Pakistan Cricket team!” Naqvi wrote on social media platform X. “Team Pakistan’s Green Matrix jersey is more than just a uniform; it’s a symbol of unity, representing every culture, and individual that makes up the rich fabric of our nation.”
The PCB chairman uploaded a video with his post in which star cricketers Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah can be seen with the PCB chairman checking out the new jerseys.
Skipper Azam and his squad have left for Dubai from where they will travel to Ireland and England to play two separate T20I series. Pakistan will play three T20Is against Ireland in Dublin from May 12-14 before they take on 2022 World Champions England from May 22-30 in a four-match series.
The series will be an important one for Pakistan as the team prepares for the T20 World Cup scheduled to kick off from June 2 in the US and West Indies.
Pakistan have a strong bowling line-up in the form of fast bowler Mohammad Amir, who played in two T20s against New Zealand after ending his retirement, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Abbas Afridi.
Under Babar, Pakistan has done well in the last two T20 World Cups, reaching the semifinals in 2021 at the United Arab Emirates and losing to England in the final at the 2022 tournament in Australia.
Naqvi has promised a cash award of $100,000 to every player if the team wins the tournament.
