LAHORE – A native of Gujrat had experienced what many people may have dreamt of, as he took a flight to Manchester, UK on which he was the only passenger to travel.
The financially strapped Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) having the capacity of 371 passengers apart from crew, flew the flight on Sunday with lone passenger.
The travel to the UK by people has been reduced due to fears of new strains of COVID. Pakistan has so far confirmed two cases of the UK variant of coronavirus, which is believed to be highly transmissible.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed the presence of the highly transmissible new variant of COVID-19 amongst two individuals who had returned from the UK.
This is in follow up to preliminary reports of the existence of B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant in three persons. The cases have now been confirmed via whole-genome sequencing.
Since the emergence of the new coronavirus variant in the UK, which was reported during December 2020, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination has required all inbound passengers from the UK to be tested for SARS-CoV-2 on arrival.
It is also of note that the variant virus reported in the UK has also been detected in 31 other countries so far.
The new SARS-CoV-2 variant ID B.1.1.7, was first discovered in the United Kingdom and appears to spread. Researchers believe it may have originated in a patient who had a long-running infection.
The new strain is believed to be 70 percent more contagious, but doctors have said there is no reason yet to believe that it is more lethal or will not be controlled by a vaccine.