COVID-19 patients: Notices to be issued for stopping clinical trials of HCQ: Mirza

The Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on Health Tuesday said that the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) - in view of the decision taken by Executive Group of Solidarity Trial - would issue notices to those undertaking hydroxychloroquine trials in Pakistan to put them on hold till further instructions.
In a tweet, he said: "The Executive Group of the Solidarity Trial, representing 10 countries, met Saturday and agreed to review by temporarily suspending clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients as high mortality has been reported."
A meeting of the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) presided over by the Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Bajwa reviewed the situation of the coronavirus in the country and the steps taken to contain its spread.
The country had just begun reopening its economy weeks before Eid-ul-Fitr to recover from the damages caused by the pandemic, but sharp increase in the COVID-19 cases has left it with no option but to review its decision of relaxation in lockdown.
Speaking at a presser here on Monday, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said that the "government will evaluate the prevailing situation immediately after Eid and can review its decision of relaxation in lockdown, if the situation gets worse".
"The lockdown was relaxed in the country in view of the Eid festival but it seems people are under the wrong impression that prevalence of the disease is reducing," he added.
He said that it was being observed that movement and interaction of people had increased during Eid holidays and standard operating procedures (SOPs) were not being properly followed, which could lead to disastrous situation.
Social distancing and other precautionary measures are key to stop the spread of this killer disease, he said, adding Eid has been dedicated to frontline health workers who are selflessly fighting the disease.
Referring to number of coronavirus cases worldwide, Mirza said that so far 5.5 million people in the world have been affected by coronavirus and 347,000 lost their lives. "Testing rate is increasing in Pakistan and till yesterday 483,000 tests had been made."
He said that, while recovery rate is 38 percent. The special assistant on health again appealed to the people to strictly follow SOPs including avoiding close contact, maintaining social distancing, wearing face masks, frequent washing of hands with soap or sanitizer and other directions given by the government from time-to-time.
The nationwide tally of COVID-19 patients stands at 58,469 with 20,654 cases in Punjab, 23,507 in Sindh, 8,080 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 3,468 in Balochistan, 630 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 1,728 in Islamabad, and 223 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The virus has claimed at least 1,210 lives, while about 18,314 coronavirus patients have recovered. The situation remains fluid and we are updating stats as soon as new figures are officially released.