E-Newsletter on COVID-19 Vol. 02, No, 30 - 31 Issue: 10-16 April, 2021 …..About Newsletter Contents…… Subscribe In order to keep abreast of emerging issues at the National/International and Op-Eds local level, the SDPI brings Articles/Editorials/News comments …………………………….…...02 out a Bi-weekly E-Newsletter on “COVID-19”. National News It carries reference • Islamabad • Punjab information’s to the News • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa • Gilgit Baltistan items/Comments/Op-Eds • Sindh • AJK appearing in leading • Balochistan • National/International dailies. International News Newspapers Covered: • Countries News • Donors News • Dawn • The News SDPI Engagements • The Express Tribune • Webinars News • Researchers Articles • The Nation • Urdu Newspapers • SDPI Press Release • Business Recorder • SDPI Related News • Daily Times • Pakistan Observer • Pakistan Today • Urdu Point A Product of ASRC-SDPI Sustainable Development Policy Institute, SDPI Team: Data Managed by: 10-D West, 3rd Floor, Taimoor Chamber, Fazl-ul-Haq Road, Shahid Rasul , Abid Rasheed Blue Area, Islamabad. Pakistan, Compile & Layout Design by: Tel: +92.51. 2278134, Fax: 2278135, Ali Aamer Javed COVID _19: E-Newsletter Op-Eds/Articles/Editorials Op-Eds/Articles/Editorials Post-Covid rehab Source: Raja Khalid Shabbir , The Express Tribune, Islamabad , 2021-04-10 Covid-19 will end, as do all nightmares. What will remain behind is a world of grief. Our first rehabilitative challenge would be something which we have always saved for last: mental health. We have all, in one way or the other, faced the consequences of Covid-19. While many have been physically impacted by the virus and pinned to ICU beds or forced to retreat in a corner of the house, others ha.....more >> The Washington Consensus and the meat cleaver Source: Farrukh Khan Pitafi, The Express Tribune, Islamabad , 2021-04-10 Is the teacher out of his depth or the classroom has changed beyond recognition? At a time when the Covid-19 crisis has devastated the world economy, thrown economic pundits for a loop and made the lives of citizens around the word hard to bear, this question was to be expected. The World Economic Outlook Report of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that just came out speaks of a remarkable rec.....more >> Exams in a pandemic Source: Editorial, The News, International , 2021-04-11 For several months, a debate has been continuing in the country over the holding of the Cambridge Assessment International Education ‘O’ and ‘A’ level exams in the last week of April. The matter has now been taken to the Sindh High Court by a student, who has asked in her petition why thousands of Cambridge examination students are being subjected to danger at a time when t....more >> A case of missing doses Source: Ahsan Zia, The News, International , 2021-04-11 Last week, reports about the alleged ‘disappearance’ of 900-odd jabs of the Covid-19 vaccine Sinopharm from three public hospitals in Lahore, shocked everyone. Though an inquiry was initiated on the orders of the Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, the matter remains unresolved. The vaccine doses had been provided to the public hospitals for the inoculation of frontline health workers..... more >> Covid-19: give me fresh air to breathe, please! Source: Dr Rana Jawad Asghar , The Express Tribune, Islamabad , 2021-04-11 The Covid vaccine seems a distant mirage for most Pakistanis. As reported by the government, over one million people have been vaccinated — mostly healthcare workers, elders, and children of Pakistan’s powerful elites. Still, this is less than 0.5% of Pakistan’s population. Anyone can do the math to work out how long we will need to vaccinate 70% of the population. While an absol..... more >> Unequal vaccine distribution Source: EDITORIAL, Dawn, Islamabad , 2021-04-11 IT is in times of crisis that we often see the best — or worst — of humanity. In this regard, the pandemic has put the world’s compassion to test. The rate at which rich nations are buying up vaccines from manufacturers that have a finite supply has been described by the WHO chief as “grotesque”. This week, as the body missed its target of seeing vaccines being admini..... more >> Page 2 of 44 Vol. 2, No. 30 - 31, Issue 10-16 April, 2021 COVID _19: E-Newsletter Shifting into new trade paradigm Source: Aadil Nakhoda, The Express Tribune, Islamabad , 2021-04-12 KARACHI: Pakistan’s exports rebounded to more than $2.3 billion in March 2021, an increase of 14.17% from $2.07 billion in February 2021, reported the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Exports in March 2021 were almost 30% more than those reported in March 2020, when Covid-19 started making an adverse impact on shipments from Pakistan. On the other hand, imports were reported at $5.6 b..... more >> Life responsibility Source: Andleeb Abbas, Business Recorder, Islamabad , 2021-04-12 “It’s my life” sung by Jon Bon Jovi was a Chart buster song in 2000. Everybody loved the theme. It started the millennial era. The 21st generation rebels just adored the concept of claiming that ‘it is my life and let me do what I want.’ It also resonated with the older crowds who for long had lived inbox lives. This super hit after two decades remains as popular as e..... more >> Covid-19: big picture Source: BR Research, Business Recorder, Islamabad , 2021-04-12 It is summertime madness out here. Covid-19 cases are climbing like a vengeance and the third wave seems to be battling the first that peaked sometime in June. By that measure, we have two more months of getting too close to the sun. For the first time since June in fact, daily coronavirus cases crossed 9,000 during the first week of April. The 7-day rolling average stands at about 5,400 which are..... more >> The virus’s latest attack Source: Arifa Noor, Dawn, Islamabad , 2021-04-13 SOON after the vaccination drive was opened for elderly citizens, I asked a few colleagues if they were planning to take their parents for a shot anytime soon. Except for one notable exception, whose parents didn’t fall in the right age category, the rest said that their parents (and a grandparent or two) were not willing. I was taken aback to say the least — after all, most of these c..... more >> Communication and Covid Source: Dr Salma Shaheen, The News, International , 2021-04-13 The Covid-19 pandemic might not alter the existing power status-quo in a fundamental way. It, nonetheless, did end up highlighting global neglect of non-traditional security threats. The pandemic revealed – rather, tested – the whole world simultaneously for its preparedness and management of a global crisis, lessons from which can be drawn and revisited in case of other possib..... more >> A vaccine summit Source: Dean Baker, The News, International , 2021-04-13 Getting the world vaccinated is not about some feel-good gestures, like a few billion dollars for COVAX, the Bill Gates-inspired initiative to make vaccines available in developing countries. It means pulling out all the stops to produce and distribute billions of vaccines as quickly as possible. To do this, we need the cooperation of the whole world and the elimination of all the barriers..... more >> Vol. 2, No. 30 - 31, Issue 10-16 April, 2021 Page 3 of 44 COVID _19: E-Newsletter Covid panic Source: Editorial, The News, International , 2021-04-13 There appears to be some sense of panic over the coronavirus pandemic raging through Pakistan. There are now clear indications that fear is spreading as news of deaths widens around the country. Since it began early last year, Pakistan has suffered 721,000 infections and over 15,000 deaths as a result of the virus. To add to the problems, the country’s vaccination programme has been moving a..... more >> Post-vaccination positive cases surface across world Source: Rafiq Mangat, The News, International , 2021-04-13 LAHORE: Post-vaccination Covid-19 positive cases have surfaced across the world while there are calls by experts that vaccination should be declared compulsory and sentences or fines should be imposed on denial for vaccination. To stop the virus from spreading, 70 to 90 percent population should be vaccinated because it reduced 90 percent infections, said experts. Israeli experts said the people, ..... more >> Pakistan’s medical inequality Source: Khalid Ranjha, The Express Tribune, Islamabad , 2021-04-13 Folk wisdom dictates that if a man does not eat at home, he may never give his wife enough money to cook a good pot of soup. By the same logic, Pakistani politicians seeking medical assistance abroad may never feel a compelling personal need to improve the healthcare system they oversee. In fact, their choice to be treated abroad is an admission of the fact that they do not have confidence in the ..... more >> Covid-19: pandemic out of control in Punjab Source: Editorial, Business Recorder, Islamabad , 2021-04-13 The third wave of the Covid-19 is taking a heavy toll all over the country but the situation in Punjab seems particularly grim. The positivity rate in the province is touching 20 percent, the number of deaths and critical patients have spiked, and medical facilities have come under so much pressure that the provincial government has had to order 100 more ventilators. There are also reports that a ..... more >> Weighing Covid-19 vaccines Source: BR Research, Business Recorder, Islamabad , 2021-04-13 Perhaps the biggest news that came out of China yesterday is the shocking admission by a top official (shocking because it was actually admitted) at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention that the Chinese make- vaccines had low efficacy.