Sindh Health Department: The Sindh Health department has just posted a video message on their Twitter announcing that the South African and Brazilian COVID-19 strains have been found in samples taken at the Agha Khan University Hospital.
South African & Brazilian variant of COVID-19 found in samples taken by AKU. This is an emergency as these variants are not vaccination responsive either. Therefore it is important for everyone to take all necessary precautions & take this seriously. #SindhHealth pic.twitter.com/F6IRNDTyBQ
— Health and Population Welfare Department, Sindh (@SindhHealthDpt) April 30, 2021
The Video Message: The Sindh Minister for Health and Population Welfare, Dr. Azra Pechuho stated that out of 13 samples studied at the AKU hospital studied yesterday, 2 samples contained the South African strain and 2 contained the Brazilian strain. She further mentioned that these two strains are not responsive to vaccines either, i.e you have no protection against these strains from the current vaccine being offered.
Minister for Health & Population Welfare, Dr. @AzraPechuho strongly recommends avoiding crowds & even small social gatherings, as well as travelling unnecessarily. If we dont enforce & follow these protocols we will face a humanitarian crises not unlike that in India #SindhHealth pic.twitter.com/I4ZC2ylqDB
— Health and Population Welfare Department, Sindh (@SindhHealthDpt) April 30, 2021
The upcoming danger: In a series of two videos, she stated that the UK strain is already spreading very rapidly in the country, however the quick spread of the South African and Brazilian strains could crumple the healthcare system as their fatality rate is far higher than the ones we’ve seen previously.
From all the images that came from India, most of the people were young and hospitalized. From Italy we saw really aged folks hospitalized. Why?
Because South African and Brazilian Variants have equally become more dangerous for the young. https://t.co/giEcUX3nn1 pic.twitter.com/jrlQ8iFXrB
— Fatah (@fatah_pak) April 30, 2021
Her advice: She advised and urged everyone to wear masks and stay home. In her opinion, Eid shopping should be shut down as no one is following SOPs in the markets and this could lead to a very drastic situation like the one in India. She also urged the population to not host people at their houses for gatherings and small parties with even trusted people as this is the reason for the fast spread of the Coronavirus.
People: stay home! And if you MUST step out, follow all SOPs please. https://t.co/j72NIjkGf9
— Zebunnisa Burki (@zburki) April 30, 2021