QUETTA: Health authorities in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province said on Wednesday 12 suspected cases of omicron coronavirus had been reported in Kalat, adding that the samples had been dispatched to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad to ensure their right diagnosis.
The omicron variant was first detected in South Africa and is said to be highly transmissible, causing severe infection among young people. Media reports indicate that the new form of virus has spread across 89 countries.
Pakistan reported its first omicron case in Karachi on December 13.
The provincial health department in Balochistan said the suspected patients from Kalat had a travel history to Hub which located right next to Karachi.
“We received 32 samples from Kalat for testing on December 15,” Dr. Naqib Niazi, head of COVID-19 operations in Balochistan, told Arab News. “Twelve patients, including a woman, exhibited signs of omicron. So, we sent their samples to the National Institute of Health in Islamabad for gene sequencing to confirm the presence of the variant among the suspected individuals.”
Niazi said the province did not have an advanced lab where new variants of the virus could be detected with certainty.
According to the World Health Organization, there is consistent evidence that omicron has a substantial growth advantage over delta and other coronavirus variants. The world health body has urged its member states to gear up their vaccination campaigns to prevent the spread of the new virus strain.
“Out teams visited the patients in the morning and found them in a stable condition,” Dr. Muhammad Noorzai, deputy district health officer in Kalat, told Arab News. “None of them had any signs of cough or illness, though the suspected patients have gone into self-quarantine. We have requested them to avoid meeting other people until we get the reports from NIH.”
According to the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), the country’s top pandemic response body, Pakistan has reported 1,292,047 coronavirus cases with 28,892 related deaths since the emergence of COVID-19.
While Balochistan has reported 33,606 coronavirus cases, it has the lowest vaccination rate compared to other provinces.
“We recently launched a 10-day vaccination campaign in all 35 districts of the province to immunize as many people as possible.” Dr. Niazi said. “Kalat has the highest number of vaccinated people since 60 percent of its population has been immunized until now.”
Sardar Abdul Rehman Kethran, Balochistan administration’s spokesperson, told Arab News the government had been utilizing all available resources to improve the pace of its vaccination program in the entire province.
“We are trying to access people in every corner of Balochistan to carry forward the immunization campaign while utilizing all available resources,” he added.
Pakistan’s Balochistan province identifies 12 suspected omicron cases
https://arab.news/ze4nn
Pakistan’s Balochistan province identifies 12 suspected omicron cases
- Officials say samples of all suspected patients have been sent for gene sequencing to the National Institute of Health in Islamabad
- Pakistan reported its first omicron case on December 13 in the country’s most densely populated Karachi city
Pakistan says 641 Afghan Taliban members killed, over 855 injured in ongoing conflict
- Both neighbors have been engaged in fierce fighting since Feb. 26 after Afghan forces launched retaliatory attacks against Pakistan
- Pakistan information minister says 243 Afghanistan checkposts destroyed, 65 “terrorists and terror support locations” targeted by air
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has killed at least 641 Afghan Taliban operatives and injured more than 855 in the ongoing conflict between the two sides since last month, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday.
Fresh clashes between the two neighbors began on Feb. 26 after Afghanistan’s border forces launched attacks against Pakistani military installations. Kabul said the attack was in retaliation for Islamabad’s airstrikes earlier in February. Both forces have since then engaged in the worst fighting between them in decades.
Islamabad has said its airstrikes, which have at times directly targeted the Afghan Taliban government, are aimed at ending Kabul’s support for militants carrying out attacks on Pakistan. The Taliban has denied aiding militant groups.
“Summary of Fitna Al Khawarij/Afghan Taliban losses: 641 killed, 855+ injured, 243 check posts destroyed,” Tarar wrote on social media platform X.
The minister said Pakistani security forces have destroyed 219 tanks, armored vehicles and artillery guns in the operation so far, and also decimated 65 “terrorists and terror support locations” across Afghanistan by targeting them with airstrikes.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained strained since the Afghan Taliban seized power in August 2021. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks across the country in recent months that it blames on militants it alleges are based in Afghanistan.
Kabul denies the allegations and insists that its soil is not used by militant groups for attacks against other countries.
While Afghanistan has voiced the desire for dialogue, Pakistan has repeatedly ruled out talks, saying it will continue targeting militant hideouts in Afghanistan through “Operation Ghazab lil Haq” till Kabul desists from supporting militants.
The ongoing conflict between both sides has put the region on heightened alert, as it already suffers from the ongoing US-Israel war against Iran.
