Curious case of Pakistan’s low Covid-19 numbers: Friends with China, Has no such cases?

India has faced some unforeseen problems during the second wave of Covid-19. However, something odd is unfolding in our immediate neighbourhood. Pakistan is employing the same strategy as China in deceiving the world by presenting a bogus number with a small number of tests.

India has faced some unforeseen problems during the second wave of Covid-19. However, something odd is unfolding in our immediate neighbourhood in Pakistan, which appears to have flattened the curve. India has had 9 lakh cases in every two days, while Pakistan has seen 913,784 confirmed cases and 20,607 confirmed deaths since the pandemic began.

The world has seen how China conceal its number of Covid-19 cases and create a narrative that its coronavirus fight has been won. Pakistan appears to be on the same path; according to a Pakistani news website Dawn, the country has conducted 39,136 tests per million people, Which is four to five times less than the testing India is currently doing. Pakistan is employing the same strategy as China in deceiving the world by presenting a bogus number with a small number of tests.

Few days ago, Sindh has imposed additional COVID-19 limitations, including a prohibition on gatherings of more than ten persons. The Pakistani health ministry spokesperson Sajid Shah announced that the National Institute of Health discovered the Indian variant case after performing whole-genome sequencing on SARS CoV-2 samples collected during the first three weeks of May 2021. It’s hard to believe that with so many cases coming up, Pakistan’s covid-19 tally hasn’t gone up. 

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Pakistan has  also asked 12 Indian High Commission officials and their families to quarantine after one of them tested positive for Covid, Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said on Sunday that on May 22, a group of 12 officials and their family members crossed the Wagah Border into Pakistan. All 12 had negative Polymerase Chain Reaction Covid findings, according to the study, but they were re-tested in accordance with Pakistani Covid safety guidelines. PTI cited the spokeswoman as stating, “The wife of an official tested positive on a quick antigen test done by Pakistani health officials.”