• Over 70pc Pakistanis have vitamin D deficiency
ISLAMABAD: With the national positivity ratio being recorded below five per cent for the last 13 days and over 70pc ventilators and oxygenated beds lying vacant in most cities, the Sindh government on Sunday allowed businesses to remain open till 8pm instead of 6pm.
Besides, a study showed that over 70pc Pakistanis had vitamin D deficiency, which it said was known to reduce severity of Covid.
The Sindh government decided to extend business timings till 8pm from the earlier 6pm with effect from Monday (today) but also made it mandatory for all staffers of shops and markets to get inoculated.
More than 140,000 health workers in Pakistan have received the Chinese-made Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine without any severe reactions reported, said Dr Faisal Sultan, the special assistant to the prime minister on health on Friday. There are close to 400,000 health professionals in the country and I would urge them to get the vaccine, said Dr Sultan on SAMAA TV’s show Naya Din. Only minimal side effects have been reported, he said, adding that any serious reactions will be investigated immediately. On the issue of vaccine refusals the PM’s aide said he agreed with Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho about taking disciplinary action against health workers who refuse to get t.
(Clockwise) Temperature of students being checked at the entrance of a school in Islamabad on Monday. The government reopened educational institutions in the second phase from grade 1 to 8 after keeping them closed as a preventive measure against the novel coronavirus. Students wear face masks to protect against coronavirus while on their way to school by a rickshaw in Peshawar. Students are being helped with their bags as they arrive at their school in Karachi. A teacher sanitising a student’s hands at a school in Hyderabad. The teacher and students, wearing facemasks, performing assembly at a school in Lahore. APP / AP / AFP / Online