According to Pakistan’s top health authorities link,there is no proof that the triple mutant covid-19 strain from India or theB.1.617.2 variant has made it to the region.

They claim that safety initiatives such as decreased inbound travel,airport testing, and quarantine for anyone who tests positive for covid-19have been implemented.

They claim that safety initiatives such as decreased inbound travel,airport testing, and quarantine for anyone who tests positive have beenimplemented. “We have reduced inbound air traffic by 80% and we are askingall passengers to get tested before boarding while they are also beingtested on arrival. We are keeping those testing positive in quarantine toensure the variant dubbed as triple mutant or Indian variant does notmanage to get into Pakistan,” Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) onHealth Dr. Faisal Sultan told The News.

Several health experts are advising the government to prohibit all director indirect flights from the United Kingdom and Gulf states to Pakistan inorder to avoid the transmission of B.1.617.2 or the Indian version, whichhas now been designated a “variant of concern” and a global health dangerby the World Health Organization (WHO).

“We don’t have documentation. Yet, to exclude anything in a country of 220million is impossible,” Dr. Sultan said when questioned on how sure he isif the Indian variant has not entered Pakistan.

Dr. Sultan said Pakistan had approached Thailand’s health authorities viathe International Health Regulations (IHR) process to request informationon a family they believed had contracted the Indian version from Pakistan,but that the Thai authorities had so far refused to offer any information.

Dr. Rana Muhammad Safdar, Pakistan’s Director-General of Health, said theIndian version had not yet reached Pakistan but cautioned that it was onlya matter of time before it spread to the majority of the world’s nations, including Pakistan.

He described the threat as “enormous,” noting that the Indian variant hasalready spread to nearly 50 countries, including our own.

“The pace at which it is spreading is alarming. For all countries, it’sjust a matter of time,” Dr. Safdar said.

In response to the relaxation of restrictions in the country beginningMonday, he affirmed that there is no space for complacency at this time, asthe positivity ratio in certain cities remains very strong.

According to Dr. Sultan, educational facilities have yet to open in orderto minimize transmission in the region.

Dr. Safdar said that all possible options for slowing spread by strictimplementation of NPIs (non-pharmaceutical interventions) and building ahigh immune shield by rapidly vaccinating all susceptible communitiesgiving us the best hope of returning to normalcy and a better escape fromthe coronavirus pandemic.

He said, however, that a recent Oxford analysis confirms that currentcovid-19 vaccinations are effective against the B.1.617.2 strain.