The Indian Council of Medical Research has asked states across the country to stop using COVID-19 rapid testing kits after discrepancies in results. The state of Rajasthan has completely halted testing through the kits. According to Rajasthan Medical and Health Minister Raghu Sharma, they did rapid tests on 168 confirmed cases but only 5.4% of them tested positive for antibodies.
A Karachi court denied a group of traders bail in a case against them for violating the lockdown. District South judicial magistrate sent six traders to jail for 14 days on judicial remand. They were arrested for opening their markets without permission. One of the men who has been arrested is a traders’ representative. On Monday they appeared in court asking for bail but their request was denied.
Two cats in New York have become the first pets in the United States to test positive for the new coronavirus. According to US health authorities there is no evidence pets can spread the vrus to humans. The cats, from separate areas of New York state, had mild respiratory illness and are expected to make a full recovery.
Actor and director Shaan Shahid recently shared a teaser for his latest film Zarrar on social media. Last month, the actor dropped the trailer for his upcoming film on YouTube. In the film, Shaan stars in the lead as Zarrar, a member of the ISI’s special unit which is out there to eliminate threats to the country.
Netflix reported soaring profits as subscriptions surged by almost 16 million at the streaming television service during coronavirus lockdown. Netflix made a profit of $709 million on revenue of $5.8 billion in the first three months of this year. The number of paid subscribers grew by 15.7 million from the previous quarter to total nearly 183 million, according to earnings figures.
Pakistan’s usage of petroleum products slumped 31% to 1.38 billion litres countrywide since the lockdown. The Federal Board of Revenue said this had the effect of eating into tax collection. Before the lockdown was enforced, Pakistan’s demand for petroleum products was 2 billion litres.
The FBR said that the global rout in oil prices will nonetheless benefit people here as oil products will be cheaper but tax collection targets may not be achieved.
Pakistani labourers in Saudia Arabia will get visa extensions, it was announced Wednesday. Saudi Minister for Manpower Abdullah Bin Naseer spoke to Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis, Zulfi Bukhari, on the matter. The entry and exit class visa will get an extension. Employees who lost their jobs will get their salaries and arrears cleared, Saudi officials assured the Pakistani authorities.
The Punjab Food Authority disposed of vegetables grown in wastewater on Wednesday. The authority conducted tests of vegetables grown on 2,804 kanals of land in 14 districts. According to the test results vegetables on 96 kanals were being grown in wastewater from industries and municipals. These vegetables included onions, tomatoes, ladyfinger etc. being grown in Rawalpindi, Chakwal, among other areas.
The Balochistan government has extended province-wide lockdown till May 5 due to a spike in cases of the novel coronavirus. The Balochistan Home Department has issued a notification in this regard. Shops and industries that have been allowed to resume operations have been directed to adhere to the SOPs issued by the government to prevent the spread of the virus.
Donald Trump has said that he will ban immigration into the United States to fight the “invisible enemy” of the novel coronavirus. He tweeted, that in the light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy as well as the need to protect the jobs of their American Citizens. He also mentioned that he will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States.