Minister for Health and Population Welfare Sindh Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho has alerted citizens that the South African and Brazilian variant of COVID-19 has been detected in samples taken by the Agha Khan University (AKU).
In a video message, the minister said: “13 samples were studied yesterday in Agha Khan University Hospital. 10 UK, two African and a Brazilian variant were found.”
Dr Pechuho further said that South African and Brazilian variants have a high fatality rate and that these variants are not vaccine responsive.
The doctor warned that those infected with these new found variants can get severely ill.
She further urged people to stay indoors, avoid gatherings and Eid shopping.
The minister also added that if citizen continue with such carelessness, hospitals and medical centres will be overburdened as “we have seen in India”. She added that if the virus begins to spread, it will become difficult to control it.
Last year in December, Pakistan reported three cases of the new strain of coronavirus that first emerged in the United Kingdom, prompting countries to ban travel with the UK.
Pakistan is experiencing a deadly third wave of Covid-19, with the positivity rate at an all-time high. According to the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), 5112 cases and 131 deaths were recorded in the country in the last 24 hours.
