ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday clarified that no vaccine was being prepared after reports emerged that the country was on the verge of developing it with the help of China even as the coronavirus cases climbed to 12,227.
Advisor on Health Zafar Mirza in his daily media briefing said that currently there was no coronavirus vaccine in Pakistan and no work of any kind was going on for its development.
"Let me clarify that while there are several initiatives to develop vaccines across the world, there is no such initiative in Pakistan at the moment," he said.
But he said that a Chinese company developing a vaccine contacted Pakistan and offered it to become a part of clinical trials.
"We have asked for more information from them," Mirza said.
He said that a similar offer was made by a company in Japan and Pakistan asked for specific details.
Mirza said that 79 per cent of the all coronavirus cases in Pakistan were locally transmitted.
"It is now fair to say that our outbreak is now mostly of local transmission," he said.
As part of efforts to reach out to the people, the government launched a telemedicine portal where doctors, both local and abroad, can give advice to patients about the coronavirus, according to Dr Mirza.
The Ministry of National Health Services reported that Pakistan's coronavirus tally touched 12,227, as the government asked people to follow official guidelines while visiting mosques in Ramadan.
It said that three patients died on Saturday, taking the total death toll to 256.
Another 2,755 recovered from the disease.
The largest province of Punjab reported 5,046 cases, Sindh 4,232, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1,708, Balochistan 656, Gilgit-Baltistan 307, Islamabad 223 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 55 cases.
So far 138,147 tests were done including 6,780 during the last 24 hours, according to the data issued by the ministry.
It also said that 785 patients were diagnosed during the last 24 hours.
China has sent more medical supplies including polymerase chain reaction testing kits, surgical masks, protective cover all suits, N95 masks and ventilators, according to a statement by the Army.
Earlier, a Chinese medical team of specialists headed by Major General Huang Qingzhen arrived on Friday.
The specialists will stay in Pakistan for two months to provide their guidance.
The government on Friday extended the lockdown till May 9.
However, Prime Minister Imran Khan, as previously, opposed total lockdown.
"When we sought a total lockdown without thinking about the consequences for the daily wage earners, the street vendors, the labourers, all of whom face poverty & hunger for themselves & their families. May Allah forgive us our sin of neglecting our dispossessed & poor citizens," he tweeted.
At the start of Ramzan, President Arif Alvi and Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri visited different mosques in Islamabad to review the precautionary measures taken for the special Taraweeh prayers.
Meanwhile, after several weeks of warnings, the government finally decided to stop all outsiders from going to Lal Masjid for payers on Friday.
Dawn reported that a large number of female students belonging to Jamia Hafsa were called a day earlier to stay at the mosque to counter any police action.
Maulana Abdul Aziz, a cleric, had been openly challenging the precautionary directives and denounced the government's advice for social distancing.
Several cases have been filed against him and his bodyguards for displaying weapons during the past four weeks.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) asked people to follow preventive measures of social distancing during Taraweeh.
"While we have to take the medical advice seriously and avoid going to the mosques as much as possible, but it is preferred to observe Taraweeh at home," PUC chairman Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi said in a statement.
160 Pakistani doctors affected so far
The number of Pakistani doctors infected with the coronavirus has reached 160 with three deaths even as the protest by the medics against the lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) entered the ninth day on Saturday.
Dr Muhammad Javed Iqbal, who contracted the virus over a week ago, died in Peshwar.
Earlier, one doctor each from Gilgit-Biltistan and Karachi lost their lives due to COVID-19.
According to the Pakistan Medical Association, some 250 medics including 160 doctors have been infected with the coronavirus so far.
The Grand Health Alliance of doctors and nurses' hunger camp outside the Punjab health department entered the ninth day for paying no attention to the medics falling victim to the deadly virus due to the non-availability of adequate protective medical kits.
"We will continue holding the protest till the government meets our legitimate demands," Grand Health Alliance chairman Dr Salman Haseeb told PTI.
Primarily, the alliance wants the government to take care of the doctors and other staff serving in the testing time of COVID-19 and provide them with complete protective gear, he said, adding that the protest would continue throughout the month of Ramzan.
Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid alleged that the doctors and nurses under the banner of the Grand Health Alliance demand hefty financial incentives for the health practitioners irrespective of their duties.
"The doctors who died of coronavirus in the line of duty should be given the status of Shaheed (martyred) and their families given financial benefit," Dr Haseeb said, adding that the alliance wants complete isolation of the infected doctors in either private hospitals or five-star hotels.
"We also demand that the health department complete the screening of all doctors who are discharging duties for seven days at hospitals as a preventive measure during the epidemic," he added.