It seems that fears of Covid spreading have once again racked up. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has begun screening passengers for Covid at the Islamabad International airport.
According to the details, all the inbound passengers are being tested for Covid at the entry points of the Islamabad airport for temperature. Furthermore, Covid-19 tests are also being carried out on passengers with the symptoms of the virus.
The passengers testing positive for Covid-19 will be quarantined, while passengers with the tested result of “false” in antigen, will undergo PCR tests.
Read more: Global alarm grows over China’s Covid surge
Pertinent to mention that the positivity rate of Covid cases has deteriorated in Pakistan over the last few months but in recent days the number of everyday Covid-19 tests has spiked in Pakistan as it registered another dozen coronavirus cases with no fatality during the last 24 hours.
According to the NIH data, the death toll in the country remained the same at 30,636 whereas the number of total infections now crawled up to 1,575,785 after adding the fresh 12 cases.
COVID-19 Statistics 31 December 2022
Total Tests in Last 24 Hours: 4,899
Positive Cases: 12
Positivity %: 0.24%
Deaths: 00
Patients on Critical Care: 26— NIH Pakistan (@NIH_Pakistan) December 31, 2022
On the other hand, the latest spike in China’s Covid cases has the world on high alert once again. Several countries are imposing Covid tests on travelers from China, and the World Health Organization (WHO) pressed Beijing to be more forthcoming on real-time data amid an explosion of cases there.
Spain, South Korea, and Israel also said they would require proof of a negative test for travelers leaving China. Earlier this week, a senior US health official said Beijing had provided only limited data to global databases about variants circulating in China, and its testing and reporting on new cases had diminished.
Read more: US to require negative Covid tests for travelers from China
Meanwhile, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin refuted suggestions that the country had not been forthcoming on data.
“Since the outbreak of the epidemic, China has been sharing relevant information and data with the international community, including WHO, in an open and transparent manner. We shared the sequence of the new coronavirus at the first instance, thus making important contributions to the development of relevant vaccines (and) drugs in other countries,” the spokesperson said.