Third wave of Covid -19 in Pakistan: New Variants with new travelers?

Abstract

Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 first experienced in Wuhan city, China during late December 2019, has now spread in 2019 countries and territories including Pakistan. According to World Health Organization (WHO), 125,425,270 confirmed cases with 2,756,679 deaths have been reported till date with highest positive cases encountered in USA followed by Brazil and India. Pakistan, a developing country in the Asia, faces a big challenge with Covid-19. In Pakistan, the first case of the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) was reported on February 26, 2020 by Ministry of Health, Government of Pakistan in Karachi, Sindh. The positive cases reported from Pakistan had travel history from Iran, London and Syria. The rapid rise of the positive cases of Covid 19 in first wave in Pakistan is attributed to mishandling of the pilgrims coming from Iran through Taftan, one of Pakistan’s border crossings with Iran. Also, the students in China were returning back to Pakistan especially from the Wuhan, which is the site of the origin of the Covid-19. With the emergence of the Covid-19, multiple variants of the virus are circulating globally especially B117 virus which is considered more contagious. It is also categorized among Variant of Concern (VOC) by SARS-CoV-2 Interagency Group (SIG) developed Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). After one year, the third wave of Covid-19 has rising throughout the country with maximum positive cases of UK variant of SARS-CoV-2. The first case of the Covid-19 with UK strain reported in Pakistan on December 28, 2020 from passengers returning back to Pakistan from United  Kingdom. At least three Covid-19 cases were detected among returnees from the UK, in the southern port city of Karachi, as reported by  the provincial Health Ministry of Pakistan. The UK strain cases were mostly being found among people returning from abroad. The current outbreak of cases is centred around Punjab province, where the tested-positive rate was 17 % in the provincial capital Lahore and 15 % in Rawalpindi and Faisalabad, according to official data. Due to poor health infrastructure and slow vaccination administration in developing countries, there is ample need of policies re-examined especially for international travelling to find the loopholes contributing to next wave of Covid-19 in Pakistan.