Mohammad Arshad
Planning Minister Asad Umar, Tuesday, strongly took up Pakistan’s issue of being placed on Red List by the British government with the British High Commissioner Alison Blackburne here, saying Pakistan’s overall track record of managing the epidemic was much better than certain other countries which are part of the UK’s Amber List.
Pakistan has no interest in allowing those who pose a health risk to other societies to travel abroad.
Minister for Planning Asad Umar shared with the High Commissioner, details of Pakistan’s strategy to combat the pandemic, which had helped the country in saving lives and livelihoods in accordance with the vision of the Prime Minister.
It was highlighted that the details of samples sequenced during July-August 2021 have been shared with WHO and regular updates are also being shared.
The genomic sequencing being performed confirms the Delta (Indian) variant to be the dominant strain in Pakistan and while the Beta variant has been sporadically detected; its prevalence is no longer greater than the global average.
He said that Pakistan could share the results of its data in real-time with the UK if it helps to provide better insights.
While discussing testing rates, Minister said that most of the tests are PCR tests done by laboratories connected to the national dashboard either directly or via Provincial dashboards.
British High Commissioner Alison Blackburne appreciated Pakistan’s efforts to tackle the pandemic and to stabilize Pakistan’s economy.
