LONDON – The UK government’s decision to retain Pakistan on the red list comes after British authorities believed that the Covid spread is much higher than the reported figures in the South Asian country.
Report of Geo News quoting a leaked letter of British health minister cited that the UK has decided to keep Pakistan on the travel ban red list because the actual number of novel virus cases is likely to be much higher than the one reported by the country’s health care authorities.
British Health Minister and the other Health and Social Care officials explained that the testing and sequencing rates in Pakistan are relatively low (1.8 per 1,000 over the last seven days) and the recent decision was based on the recommendations made by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) which produces public health risk assessments.
Such lags in infection reporting mean it is not possible to know the full genomic makeup of their current wave, it said.
“The limited sequencing data from Pakistan suggest that they are currently experiencing a Delta wave, however, given the limitations in the available data, we could not be reassured that the outbreaks are due to known variants such as Delta, or if a novel cluster(s) of new or high-risk variants are developing and/or driving the epidemiology in Pakistan”, the letter reads.
It also mentioned that British authorities are engaging constructively with Pakistan to improve data availability and confidence and consequently our understanding of the current epidemiology within the country.
However, it appreciated the efforts made by Pakistani authorities throughout the pandemic and will continue to work closely together.
It further mentioned that the New Variant Assessment Platform (NVAP) programme Pakistan will be able to draw on UK expertise and support to detect, analyse, and respond quickly to new, and potentially more dangerous, variants of the novel virus.
Pakistan upset over UK’s decision to retain it on travel red list
On Friday, Pakistan expressed disappointment over the British government’s decision to retain the South Asian country on its travel red list. Pakistan High Commission in London took to Twitter and issued a statement after the UK announced its decision.
