Featured CoronaVirus in Pakistan - Updates & Discussion

[Pakistani Fighter]

View attachment 617181

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

Is this true that 21 have recovered? Havent find in national news

 

[ejaz007]

Is this true that 21 have recovered? Havent find in national news

Yes true.

3 journalists tested positive for coronavirus in Pakistan
Web Desk

MARCH 25, 2020

At least three Pakistani reporters have tested positive for coronavirus, it has been revealed.

The news was broken on Twitter yesterday and then confirmed during the day that two journalists of News 24 HD TV and one working for AbbTakk TV had contracted COVID-19.

All three, whose names have not been disclosed, are based in Lahore, the capital of the eastern province of Punjab.

Mohsin Naqvi, CEO of a private news channel, confirmed the development and said: “We are investigating the possibility of further infected individuals by tests and have quarantined few staff members. We have and will continue to assure that all precautions possible are taken.”

He lamented the lack of safety kits for beat reporters.

“Most of the reporters doing coverage from hospitals asked me for safety kits. After our request to the federal government, they have taken up the responsibility for the treatment of only those reporters and their families who have tested positive,” Chairman All Pakistan Newspaper Employees Confederation (APNEC) Siddique Anzar told Anadolu Agency.

He said that reporters from smaller towns such as Dera Ismail Khan in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Larkana in southern Sindh province, besides being ill-equipped, were also facing financial difficulties because of delays in salaries.

While staffers in digital newsrooms have been asked to work from home, TV reporters have to be out in the field to update the masses.

Sibte Hassan, who reports for Hum News from Karachi, said: “Channels are demanding extensive coverage of this issue… we have to give live hits in every headline and bulletin but they haven’t provided us with any safety kits. I am roaming around in hospitals… I got my safety kit on my own, but many of the field reporters cannot even afford these.”

Apart from the above mentioned issues, it is claimed that media houses haven’t been paid their advertising dues for long.

Hamid Mir, a senior journalist said: “I have even used safety kits in war zones that were very heavy but for corona, it is very light… hand gloves, masks, plastic capes, and sanitizers. We have demanded the government to pay the overdue bills of media houses that are around Rs6 billion such that their staff can get through this lockdown and take care of themselves.”

After Sindh, even the Punjab province announced a lockdown. Only essential services such as hospitals, grocery stores and pharmacies remain open.

Notably, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have called on media executives in Pakistan not to send large number of reporters into the filed.

“Everything must be put in place so that they can work from home and avoid any potential source of infection,” it said in a statement.

https://dailytimes.com.pk/582611/3-journalists-tested-positive-for-coronavirus-in-pakistan/

 

[PakSword]

Pakistan is working on production of local ventilators: Fawad Chaudhry
SAMAA | Naya Din - Posted: Mar 25, 2020 | Last Updated: 23 mins ago

Researchers across Pakistan are working on the production of indigenous ventilators, revealed Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry.

“Presently, all ventilators used inside the country are being procured from China by the National Disaster Management Authority,” he said on SAMAA TV’s programme Naya Din on Wednesday.

The total number of these machines at hospitals across the country is 2,200 of which 1,500 are in working condition. “We aim to double this amount to 3,000 for which it is necessary that we produce ventilators ourselves instead of importing them,” the minister said.

A decision regarding the matter will be taken during a meeting of the Pakistan Engineering Council today, he said. “I’m sure that we will be successful in this project,” Chaudhry said.

Separately, scientists and students have been working on developing coronavirus testing kits and hand sanitisers locally. They have been successful in doing so, according to the minister.

“We have been producing hand sanitisers ever since news of a shortage came out,” he said. “More than 1,500 bottles are being produced everyday and we are planning to increase the number to 8,000.”

A 100 millilitre bottle of hand sanitiser costs Rs450.

The National University of Science and Technology has also developed testing kits for COVID-19 locally. “We are waiting for final approvals after which the kits will be introduced in the market,” Chaudhry said.

He pointed that as these kits are cheaper than the imported ones, more people will be tested through them. The kits will cost Rs2,000, a quarter of the price of the ones being imported.

The minister added that a team led by Dr Attaur Rahman was also closely working with the World Health Organisation for the development of an anti-coronavirus vaccine.

https://www.samaa.tv/news/pakistan/...oduction-of-local-ventilators-fawad-chaudhry/

@Ace of Spades

 

[Ace of Spades]

@Ace of Spades

That's a great news, i hope it materializes soon.

 

[jarves]

@farhan_9909 I see you in the 'viewing this thread list', used to love your posts back in the days

 

[ghazi52]

Pakistan Railways has suspended the operations of all passenger trains until March 31 in light of the fast-spreading coronavirus.

In a notification issued on Tuesday, Pakistan Railways announced that passengers who have advance booking on suspended trains will be accommodated in other trains of their choice on priority once the train service is resumed. In case of not availing ticket, they will get full refund after resumption of train operations

 

[CrazyZ]

POF starts massive production of masks, sanitizers: Zubaida Jalal
Web Desk On Mar 25, 2020

WAH CANTT: In an effort to help the masses in fight against novel coronavirus, Federal Minister for Defence Production Zubaida Jalal on Wednesday said that Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) has started massive production of disinfectant and fabric masks, ARY News reported.

Talking to journalist, Zubaida Jalal said that the factory has acquired the ability to manufacture 25,000 masks and 10,000 liters of disinfectant on a daily basis.

She maintained that the face masks were being prepared with special fabrics, adding that these masks are washable.

The minister said that the commendable efforts of the factory will boost national efforts and further achievements are expected in this regard.

Earlier in the day, the spokesperson to the Sindh government, Senate Murtaza Wahab, had said that the province will keep 200,000 N95 face masks received from China earlier today and distribute the remaining stock among other provinces to assist combating coronavirus pandemic.

Senator Murtaza Wahab had confirmed in a Twitter message that the Sindh government had received 500,000 N95 masks from China.

He had added that the provincial government had decided to keep 200,000 masks and distribute the remaining masks among Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan.
https://arynews.tv/en/pof-massive-production-masks-sanitizers/

 

[ghazi52]

Sindh

 

[BATMAN]

Army is in action... this generates hope.
Ministers are good for nothing, just take their salaries and that of the ministries and distribute among soldiers, doing double duty. As well the budget of all state ministries should be added to defense budget.

POF starts massive production of masks, sanitizers: Zubaida Jalal
Web Desk On Mar 25, 2020

WAH CANTT: In an effort to help the masses in fight against novel coronavirus, Federal Minister for Defence Production Zubaida Jalal on Wednesday said that Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) has started massive production of disinfectant and fabric masks, ARY News reported.

Talking to journalist, Zubaida Jalal said that the factory has acquired the ability to manufacture 25,000 masks and 10,000 liters of disinfectant on a daily basis.

She maintained that the face masks were being prepared with special fabrics, adding that these masks are washable.

The minister said that the commendable efforts of the factory will boost national efforts and further achievements are expected in this regard.

Earlier in the day, the spokesperson to the Sindh government, Senate Murtaza Wahab, had said that the province will keep 200,000 N95 face masks received from China earlier today and distribute the remaining stock among other provinces to assist combating coronavirus pandemic.

Senator Murtaza Wahab had confirmed in a Twitter message that the Sindh government had received 500,000 N95 masks from China.

He had added that the provincial government had decided to keep 200,000 masks and distribute the remaining masks among Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan.
https://arynews.tv/en/pof-massive-production-masks-sanitizers/

It was NDMA head who organized this. Minister is just releasing the news trying to be relevant and this what we'll see a lot in coming days... ministers trying to be relevant, while army doing and organizing everything.

China-donated face masks, N-95 respirators, arrived in Pakistan: NDMA chairman

Now just look the minister, trying to look relevant. Let me know when they do some good and ask soldiers to inaugurate.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Army is in action... this generates hope.
Ministers are good for nothing, just take their salaries and that of the ministries and distribute among soldiers, doing double duty. As well the budget of all state ministries should be added to defense budget.



It was NDMA head who organized this. Minister is just releasing the news trying to be relevant and this what we'll see a lot in coming days... ministers trying to be relevant, while army doing and organizing everything.

China-donated face masks, N-95 respirators, arrived in Pakistan: NDMA chairman

Now just look the minister, trying to look relevant. Let me know when they do some good and ask soldiers to inaugurate.

Not chinese govt but Jack Ma.

 

[Ace of Spades]

Coronavirus: Pakistan students use AI to speed diagnosis
Develop system detector to detect COVID-19 using CT scan of lungs

Mohammed AleemImage Credit: Supplied

Islamabad: Two Pakistani students have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to help diagnose coronavirus amid the shortage of test kits as the government ramps up efforts to combat the virus.

“As the virus is still growing exponentially and our hospitals are already overwhelmed, we decided to turn to artificial intelligence to help promptly identify cases in the absence of testing kits”, said, Mohammad Aleem, a mechanical engineering student who is working on the project.

As the doctors are on the front-line in the battle against the virus and the government is rushing to provide medical supplies, Aleem and his colleague, Rahul Raj, both final year students at Gulam Ishaq Khan Institute (GIKI), turned to technology to help Pakistan fight coronavirus.


“The AI-powered deep learning model that we have developed from scratch can help detect COVID-19 with 92 per cent confidence using computed tomography (CT) scan of lungs” Aleem, 22, told Gulf News.

How does the AI detector help identify patients?

The AI detector might offer an alternative way to help diagnose coronavirus patients amid the shortage of testing kits and the unavailability of medical staff. “The detector relies on the chest CT imaging. If the CT scans are available then it would hardly take 10-20 seconds to perform the analysis and find out if the patient is COVID-19 positive,” explains Raj, a computer science student. The detector not only helps save time but also reduces the engagement of experts such as a radiologist.

The automatic analysis can help identify two things. “One it can confirm with 92 per cent confidence if the person has tested positive or negative for novel coronavirus. Secondly, based on medical imagery, it can help locate the exact position, impact and severity of the damage to the lungs,” Raj told Gulf News. The aim is to help doctors diagnose faster so patients can be directed to the next process (such as quarantine or isolation) without spending hours and posing the risk of cross-infection.

Since the detector relies on medical imagery, the major limitations would be the cost of CT scans in Pakistan, which is around Rs5,000-8000, as well as the inaccessibility of the diagnostic equipment.

Requesting government for data and support
The AI detector is a deep learning model in which computers learn the same way humans do: By examples and practice. “The more data (such as images and text) an algorithm can train on, the more accurate it will be,” clarified Aleem.


This is why the team is in desperate need of more data and support from the health facilities and government. “We immediately need more CT scans of coronavirus patients to improve the detector’s accuracy and begin testing.” The developers say the government’s support and endorsement can speed up diagnosis as they are “determined to help save Pakistanis in the time of crisis.”

A few countries such as China are working on similar AI system for coronavirus diagnosis. However, the data or AI framework is not available as open source. “Our system’s output might be similar but we have our own methodology to achieve the results,” Aleem said.

Who are the two young developers?
Mohammad Aleem, a final-year mechanical engineering student at GIKI, is a firm believer that Industry 4.0 will revolutionise the world and this is what motivated him to learn AI. Given his diverse skill set, he is an expert in doing crossover projects merging knowledge from various disciplines. He has experience in working on smart cars, AI assistants, robotic surgery and AI-enabled medical research.

Rahul RajImage Credit: Supplied

Rahul Raj, a final-year computer science student at GIKI, has always been fascinated by the concept of AI and machine learning (ML). He has worked on numerous ML projects related to autonomous driving, image and speech recognition, classification and prediction. Rahul says his lifelong goal is to learn everything about AI to better use his skills to make the world a better place.

 

[CrazyZ]

‘Govt working on local manufacturing of ventilators’
By
Hassan Naqvi
-
March 25, 2020
0
470

–Official says body on coronavirus will soon test drugs that are believed to be useful in curing the disease

–Says developers have been asked to submit ventilator prototypes so they could be evaluated for mass production

LAHORE: Amidst the outbreak of coronavirus in the country, the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Knowledge Economy had recently asked the developers to submit before March 26th (tomorrow) the prototypes of their indigenously-designed ventilators.

As per details, the total number of ventilators across the country for critically-ill COVID-19 patients stand at 1,700, which are significantly less keeping in mind the sensitivity of the outbreak as well as the global shortage of ventilators.

Talking to this scribe, PM’s Task Force on Knowledge Economy Deputy Chair Dr Attaur Rehman said that they are currently working on the local manufacturing of ventilators and for this purpose, local developers have been asked to come up with their prototypes (submit one page product specification by March 26th).

“These prototypes will be evaluated for mass production of ventilators to meet the national requirement.”

On a query, he said that once the prototypes are ready, the details would be shared with the health ministry and other relevant departments, following which a final decision regarding the manufacturing of ventilators in Pakistan would be made.

Dr Rehman, who is also heading the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Task Force on Coronavirus (Covid-19), further informed that they will start “clinical trials of some drugs from next week” at the University of Health Sciences, adding that the drugs are “likely to help cure the patients of COVID-19”.

Lauding the initiative, Dr Sehar Raza, an anesthesiologist at Ganga Ram Hospital, said, “It will be a great achievement if we manage to develop and manufacture expensive devices like ventilators in Pakistan.”

She explained, “Ventilators are mechanical breathing machines which are essential for critical patients of COVID-19 — a disease that directly affects the patient’s lungs. In severe cases, the patients develop pneumonia that can fill the lower lungs with fluid and cause difficulty in breathing; the condition can lead to a critical deficiency of oxygen [in a patient’s body]. A ventilator thus provides life-saving oxygenation when the patient is not able to do it on his/her own.”

Commenting on the development, Amir Zafar Durrani, a development sector expert, said the retooling of existing industries to produce emergency equipment happens worldwide and this should be taken seriously without compromising internal competition and standards.

Agreeing with him, technology enthusiast Malik Ahsan Raza said it is important, especially under the prevailing circumstances, to tap the untapped potential of Pakistani entrepreneurs.

“Hopefully, many wonderful prototypes will be pitched. Pakistan has long been ignoring the potential of startups. This time, I hope, the skilled youth will come up with great ideas,” Raza said.

He, however, said the government needs to speed up the process and make it free from bureaucratic hurdles.

On the other hand, economist Dr Farida Faisal was of the opinion that designs of prototypes are readily available while their testing results have more or less been satisfactory.

“But commercialisation is far more important from a practical viewpoint,” she maintained.
https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/03/25/govt-working-on-local-manufacturing-of-ventilators/

 

[ghazi52]

Chinese medical experts to help Pakistan in fight against coronavirus

BEIJING: Vice Minister of China’s National Health Commission Zeng Yixin announced on Thursday that Beijing will send a team of medical experts to Pakistan to work closely with the health authorities and provide assistance and expertise in their fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

“As required by Pakistani side, China is preparing a medical team to visit Pakistan and this team of experts will pay field trips to different localities in Pakistan,” Zeng said while responding to a question by APP at a press conference on China’s cooperation with the international community in fighting COVID-19 held at China’s State Council Information Office.

Zeng said the team would be sharing its experience in tackling the disease with their Pakistani counterparts. He added that the Chinese team would also be discussing other assistance matters.

The vice minister said that China immediately shared therapeutic and prevention protocols with Pakistan when COVID-19 hit the country.

“We also shared with Pakistani friends, through video-link, China’s experience in treatment and containment,” he added.

Zeng Yixin also said that the Chinese authorities also had a very good discussion on other issues of Pakistan in wake of the new coronavirus outbreak.

Acknowledging Pakistan’s support to China against the coronavirus, Deng Boqing, Vice Chairman of China International Development Cooperation Agency said that as China was fighting the epidemic at home, Pakistan extended great support.

Pakistan mobilised all possible medical supplies to support China and that measure had moved numerous Chinese people.

Deng said the two countries were facing similar challenges and China was ready to share its experience with Pakistan and provide Pakistan with badly needed medical supplies.

“As a matter of fact, we have already provided four batches of assistance to Pakistan in terms of testing kits, protective suits, facial masks, ventilators and other medical supplies,” he said.

Deng said for the next stage, the Chinese side also had a plan to provide more urgently needed assistance to Pakistan.

“In addition, we will also support Pakistan in building temporary quarantine hospital,” he added.

The Chinese government has provided 83 countries and international organisations with emergency assistance to battle the novel coronavirus.

The country has activity shared information about Covid-19, and enhanced technological exchanges with international experts.

 

[YeBeWarned]

 

[ghazi52]

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