ISLAMABAD: If you have a fever, cold and cough, this might be Covid-19 as the new Omicron variants XBB 1.9, XBB 1.5, and BQ 1.1 with the same symptoms are spreading fast in Pakistan. The same variants caused over 50 per cent of Covid cases reported in March.
During the past few weeks, the positivity ratio of Covid remained above 2 per cent, which rang the alarm bells in the health sector as new Omicron variants XBB1.9, XBB1.5, and BQ 1.1 has started infecting people more rapidly.
Several people in Pakistan have suffered from colds, flu, fever, throat infection and body aches in the last month or so. These symptoms could be new variants of Covid-19 as most people don’t get tested.
According to the National Institute of Health (NIH) data, around 50 per cent of the total test conducted in March were Omicron positive.
According to the data released by NIH on Tuesday, of the total of 2,818 tests conducted in Pakistan, as many as 50 tested positive.
COVID-19 Statistics 28 March 2023
Total Tests in Last 24 Hours: 2,818
Positive Cases: 50
Positivity %: 1.77%
Deaths: 00
Patients on Critical Care: 23
(shared by NCOC-NIH)— NIH Pakistan (@NIH_Pakistan) March 27, 2023
The number of tests being carried out is meagre compared to the number of people suffering from the cold, flu and fever.
Former director-general health Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar, who also led Covid-19 surveillance and response efforts, told WE News that the new variant is spreading quickly in Pakistan and infecting more and more people. “People around you having a cold and fever could be a carrier of Omicron as most of them don’t get themselves tested. This variant affects the upper respiratory tract system, but the good news is that this doesn’t have serious health implications; therefore, people don’t take it seriously.”
He said that people who were already vaccinated were getting infected with this new variant as the efficacy of current vaccines has dropped to around 60 per cent from 90 per cent, and a new Pfizer vaccine specific to counter the new Covid variants is now available in Pakistan. “People with other serious illnesses like sugar, heart disease, and blood pressure should get their booster shot of the new vaccine as this variant can be fatal for them,” he advised.
He said that the cases were on the rise globally due to new variants and mutations, but it was encouraging that the hospitalisation and fatality rates were meager.
Dr Rana Safdar said: “The number of tests has decreased drastically as new variants don’t cause hospitalization and people avoid tests.”
Islamabad was on top of the list with a Covid positivity ratio of 3.42 per cent as eight people tested positive of the 234 tests conducted during the last 24 hours.
The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital’s outpatient department (OPD) manager shared the date of patients with flu, cough, fever and throat infections. According to the data, over 1,000 patients visited the hospital’s OPD for these symptoms on Tuesday from 8 to 11 am.
He said that the timing of OPD has been reduced due to Ramazan, but people also visit the emergency for treatment after the OPD is closed.
Dr Rana Safdar said people should not take these symptoms lightly and get a booster of the new variant-specific vaccine.
