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Pakistan health experts on Tuesday expressed concern over the recent spike in Covid-19 community cases and warned that the surge might turn into a sixth wave of the pandemic.

The medical experts urged people to wear face masks and maintain social distancing to prevent themselves from the deadly virus, reported The News. Mild symptoms are being observed among the infected people, and the situation can turn out of control if preventive measures are not taken by the people, the doctors warned.

Karachi has become the most affected city after registering 340 positive community cases. The officials from the health department said that the port city recorded 10.69 per cent positivity rate in the last seven days, local media reported.

The virus was detected in 34 of the 9,892 Covid-19 tests undertaken in the remainder of Sindh.

According to the National Institute of Health, 204 additional patients tested positive for coronavirus in the previous 24 hours after 13,300 tests were performed, raising the positivity ratio to 1.53 percent (NIH).

Notably, 66 infected persons were hospitalised to hospital intensive-care units (ICU).

Dr. Saeed Khan of Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) indicated that the BA.5 variety has been detected in Pakistan and is being transmitted locally.

“While other [old] sub-variants of Omicron are also being reported in Karachi, this one is more contagious since it’s a new one and has been cause of concern in other parts of the world,” said Khan.

The unvaccinated, the elderly, and persons with impaired immunity, according to the DUHS professor, are most vulnerable.

Also Read: Covid case Update: 13,313 cases reported in India, 38 deaths reported

He said that the lack of Covid-19 preventative measures in public locations, the general people’s unwillingness to obtain a booster shot, and genetic differences amongst the variations allow them to spread quicker.

Aga Khan University professor Dr Faisal Mahmood said, “the introduction of the new variant BA.4 and BA.5, which can cause reinfections, increased travel — especially to Saudi Arabia for Umrah and Turkey for vacations — as well as the fact that six months have passed since the last booster, and that people have stopped wearing masks,” are among the major reasons for the spike in the community cases.

People do not seek COVID-19 tests if their symptoms are minor, according to professor Mahmood, who added that the total number of cases is higher than the reported instances due to the difficulty to record home testing kits.

Several activists and internet users chastised Chinese authorities for exploiting the COVID-19 health app to suppress dissent.

According to The Singapore Post, Chinese officials utilised the health app code to prevent depositors who had lost access to their cash from demonstrating against local banks in Henan province. During the early stages of the epidemic, China created a color-coded smartphone app to track people’s movements in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and execute its zero-COVID policy.

The authorities had employed mobile applications to identify and isolate persons who may have been infected with COVID-19.

According to recent media reports, police in Zhengzhou, Henan province’s capital, employed mandatory codes to limit the mobility of people furious because local banks had frozen their accounts, according to The Singapore Post.

Hundreds of depositors who were unable to withdraw funds recently planned to travel to Zhengzhou to protest against local banks that had blocked their accounts due to internal system upgrades.

Also Read: Health experts warn of sixth Covid wave in Pakistan

Many people discovered that the so-called health codes on their phones had changed from green to red upon arrival. They couldn’t travel because they were red, so the demonstrations died down. The red coding appeared to be solely for depositors. Citizens lost access to public transportation and public venues like as restaurants and shopping malls, as well as the right to travel throughout the nation, if they did not have a green code on their smartphone app.

A red code, which normally indicates illness or close contact, suggested that he or she was a public health danger.

According to the reports, the police detained numerous persons and barred them from moving. Several persons reported being forced to quarantine or being denied access to public transit or buildings.

Local banks including as Kaifeng’s New Oriental Country Bank, ZhechengHuanghuai Community Bank, ShangcaiHuimin County Bank, and YuzhouXin Min Sheng Village Bank have had difficulty providing cash withdrawals.

However, banks blocked deposits on April 18, resulting in heated protests last month, according to The Singapore Post.

Meanwhile, human rights organisations have slammed authorities for utilising their huge COVID monitoring infrastructure to disrupt protests. Many people resorted to Chinese social media sites to express their concerns over the action.

Hu Xijin, a popular Chinese commentator and former newspaper editor, said “health codes” should be used solely for the purpose of preventing pandemics.”

“If any area uses health codes to restrict people’s movements for other purposes, this is clearly a breach of pandemic prevention laws… and damages the support of the people for our fight against the virus,” he said.

The Monkeypox epidemic has been declared a Public Health Emergency of Global Concern by a scientific group created in response to the Covid-19 danger.

This comes only days after the World Health Organization’s (WHO) chief announced the formation of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee in response to the spread of the Monkeypox virus to 32 non-endemic nations. On June 23, specialists will gather to determine if the ongoing epidemic becomes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the highest degree of global alert now applicable only to the COVID-19 pandemic and polio.

The World Health Organization (WHN) has declared Monkeypox a public health emergency, indicating that the epidemic is not restricted to a single country or area and that rapid action to prevent community transmission is required.

“The World Health Network declares the monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of Global Concern, by which it indicates that this outbreak is not limited to a single country or region and should be addressed by immediate actions taken wherever community transmission is taking place in order to ensure that the least effort is needed and the smallest impact is suffered due to this outbreak,” the WHN said.

The growth of Monkeypox in 58 countries through local community transmission around the world, with 3,417 confirmed Monkeypox cases reported across 58 countries, and the rate of growth of cases increasing week by week across multiple continents

“The World Health Network @TheWHN has just declared monkeypox a pandemic emergency. Will the @WHO declare #monkeypox a **Public Health Emergency of International Concern** (PHEIC) later today or by end of Friday?” said Eric Feigl-Ding, Epidemiologist and health economist.

Severity of Monkeypox

The terrible pain, scarring, blindness, and death that has historically been documented in instances of monkeypox.
The severity of Monkeypox in youngsters, who have so far escaped infection during the present outbreak but are expected to get sick if community transmission spreads.

The possibility of transmission to animals, including rodents such as mice, rats, squirrels, and domesticated pets, creating a reservoir that will spread over the world, resulting in a continual risk of human infection and the need to alter everyday living to prevent exposure in many situations.

The WHN stated that efforts are required to prevent broad public communication about the symptoms of monkeypox.

Additionally, efforts are needed to ensure universal availability of testing without limits based on particular indicators like as travel, known contact with infected persons, or participation in previously high-risk areas.

Also Read: WHO removes difference between endemic and non-endemic nations to bolster fight against Monkeypox