Has the new coronavirus strain reached Pakistan?

No evidence exists to back reports that the new strain of coronavirus in UK has allegedly found its way to Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan's aide on health Dr Faisal Sultan said Thursday.

The premier's aide was responding to a question during a webinar organised by the Pakistan Society for Awareness and Community Empowerment (PACE), where he said that Dr Atta-ur-Rehman had provided no scientific evidence of the new virus variant's existence in the country.

The webinar was moderated by senior health journalist Muhammad Waqar Bhatti, convener PACE, while other panelists were Dr Faisal Mahmood, an infectious diseases expert from Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Karachi, Prof Sohail Akhtar, a pulmonologist from Indus Hospital Karachi and Dr Babar Saeed Khan, public and digital health expert and CEO of Ehad Healthcare Karachi.

However, it is pertinent to mention here that Dr Atta, the head of the prime minister’s task-force on science and technology, did not claim that the UK's virus strain was present in the country.

The scientist, speaking in Samaa TV's morning show, had said: "We have found such strains in which there were genetic changes in the spike protein. Some of these are similar to the change seen in UK’s new strain of coronavirus."

Dr Atta further clarified that the changes observed in Pakistan are not located in the same spot on the virus' genetic structure as the UK strain's.

Addressing the webinar further, Dr Sultan said that investigations and research to detect the new strain, dubbed as B117, was underway in a "relevant population where it could possibly be present" in Pakistan.

Dr Faisal Sultan maintained that instead of calling it a new strain that emerged in the UK, it should be considered as a variant of the coronavirus as very minor mutations had been observed in the virus.

“Even British authorities don’t have any strong evidence if the virus has become more infectious”, he said.

Read more: Pakistan updates travel restrictions for inbound travelers from UK

When will the vaccine be available in Pakistan?

Responding to a query regarding the availability of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine in Pakistan, Dr Sultan said the first deployment of the vaccine would start in the first quarter of 2021.

The special assistant said that efforts were underway to start vaccinating half a million frontline workers by the end of February to March 2021.

“We have three to four options available regarding vaccines but we are trying to acquire more than one vaccine for our people”, he added.

Dr Sultan said that the COVID-19 vaccine for the general population of Pakistan, between the age group of 18-60 years, would likely to be available in the second or third quarter of 2021, adding that deployment of the vaccine would start in the timeframe of April to June next year.

“We are looking at European, Chinese and even Russian vaccine options but it would be a mix and match for us and we would acquire it from more than one source for our people”, he disclosed.

Reopening of educational institutions

Commenting on the re-opening of educational institutions in January this year, he said he could understand Sindh’s apprehensions regarding the opening of educational institutions as the ratio of positivity is very high at the moment and there is no evidence available of the second wave of COVID-19 slowing down.

The special assistant said that a final decision on whether or not to open educational intuitions from January 11 would be taken in the meeting of provincial and federal health ministers in the first week of January 2021.

'Human behaviour more lethal than the virus'

Meanwhile, AKUH's Dr Faisal Mahmood said almost all the doctors in Pakistan were now seeing repeat infections of coronavirus, adding that he has personally seen 12-15 cases of re-infections at AKUH.

“I would insist that it is the behaviour of humans that is making the coronavirus more lethal, and not the virus itself. If people continue to take precautions, they will remain protected from the virus”, Dr Mahmood added.

Moreover, Prof Sohail Akhtar deplored that all political parties of the country acted indifferently when the pandemic started, adding that people should not wait for the vaccine as it would take time to arrive in Pakistan.

“We should try to live with COVID-19. Precautions, preventive measures and following SOPs should be our first priority”, he added.

KP begins tracking people who arrived from UK

A day earlier, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government started tracking passengers who have arrived in the province from the United Kingdom after a new coronavirus strain was discovered in England.

According to a report by the provincial health department, authorities have sent letters to deputy commissioners that include the names of at least 101 people.

Read more: Britain slapped with coronavirus travel bans due to new strain of virus

The passengers arrived from the United Kingdom and went to 12 districts of the province which include Mardan, Abbottabad, and Swat. "We will test these people after tracing them," the health department officials said.

Those who test positive for the virus will be placed under quarantine, said an official of the health department. 

Pakistan updates travel restrictions

Pakistan has updated its standard operating procedures (SOPs) for inbound travelers from the UK, after the emergence of the new virus variant.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced Tuesday that Pakistani passport holders who have been issued the Business, Visitor or Transit visas by British authorities can return to the country provided they show a negative PCR test.

The test, however, must have been taken 72 hours prior to the start of their travel to Pakistan, said the aviation authority.

The government has also allowed Pakistanis that hold study, family, work and settlement visas in the UK to return to Pakistan "if their visas are expiring within the next 30 days from the issuance of this letter while holding negative PCR Test Reports conducted within the 72 hours prior to commencement of travel to Pakistan".

The new variant

Countries across the globe shut their borders to Britain on Monday due to fears about a new strain of coronavirus, said to be up to 70% more transmissible than the original, causing travel chaos and raising the prospect of food shortages days before Britain is set to leave the European Union.

Read more: Pakistan records lowest coronavirus positivity rate since Nov 7

The discovery of the new strain, just months before vaccines are expected to be widely available, renewed fears about the virus, which killed about 1.7 million people worldwide.

The note of calm from the CEO about the UK mutation echoed the World Health Organization (WHO), which cautioned against major alarm, saying this was a normal part of a pandemic’s evolution.