Comment by Riaz Haq on April 27, 2020 at 10:18pm

Pakistan Telecommunication authority is expected to issue 5G licences this year. This will pave the way to officially launch 5th generation service of mobile cellular communications in the country, which has a subscriber base of more than 161 million as of June 2019.

Khaleej times reports that the 5G service in Pakistan will be 100 times faster than the current levels, while network will be 10 times faster than existing broadband connections available in the country. 5G home routers speed has been recorded at 4 gigabytes per second, which means that it can download a 50gb file in just two minutes.


https://www.globalvillagespace.com/benefits-and-expected-release-da...

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#Pakistan #Telecommunication Company Limited has deployed Nokia’s technology to expand the capacity of a 100G transport network to 200G optical network for domestic and international traffic to meet growing demand. #4G #5G #mobile #Broadband | Nasdaq


https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/whats-in-the-cards-for-nokia-nok-th...

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 27, 2020 at 10:19pm

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication was informed by a representative of Special Communications Organisation (SCO) that the organisation was required to provide telecom services in areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).


He said first phase of the fibre optic cable from Khunjerab to Rawalpindi had been completed under CPEC, adding that traffic tests yielded positive results and the project would help generate a lot of revenue for the government. The official said the government was working on the second phase of the optic fibre cable to extend the network along three routes of CPEC. “Sites have been identified,” he said.

The project had been envisaged in 2017 and its PC-I was sent to the Planning Commission, he said. However, it has not been approved so far. The official said the National Highway Authority (NHA) and Pakistan Railways were also working on laying the fibre optic cable on motorways and Pakistan Railways’ ML-I project.

However, SCO had proposed to merge this project into the second phase of fibre optic cable. He said NHA, Pakistan Railways and the Planning Commission deputy chairman had reached an agreement in that regard, adding that the CPEC Authority chairman had held a meeting and asked for a joint proposal.

The official shared that the first phase had been executed by Huawei and the same high technology would be used for the second phase. “We are following the same standards,” he said. The second phase of the project will cost Rs29 billion and SCO has demanded an allocation of Rs5.19 billion for the year 2020-21.

He pointed out that SCO wanted to enforce the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 and mobile certification system in AJK and G-B. “We are asking for funds worth Rs235 million in this regard,” he said, adding that mobile devices would be registered in AJK under the project.

The parliamentary panel was informed that the IT ministry had demanded Rs32.9 billion in the last five years but the government allocated Rs12 billion for IT-related projects in the country. It was informed that the IT ministry was seeking allocation of Rs34.6 billion for 16 new and 15 ongoing IT-related projects in the year 2020-21.

Another official told the panel that attempts had been made to hack WhatsApp of officials in the country and there was a plan to replace the network. He said the cabinet had written a letter that no government officer would use third-party communication apps but there was no alternative platform.


https://tribune.com.pk/story/2160351/2-pakistan-plans-second-phase-...

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 28, 2020 at 1:45pm

#Pakistan confident in controlling spread of #coronavirus. So far intensity of virus lower compared to other countries across world, says top health official. #COVID19
http://v.aa.com.tr/1820903

Pakistan's top health official has said the intensity of the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the country is not as severe as in other parts of the world.

State Minister for Health Zafar Mirza, while briefing Prime Minister Imran Khan and other Cabinet ministers late Monday, said, so far, the intensity of the spread of the virus is lower compared to other countries in the world.

"As compared to other countries, the number of confirmed cases and death ratio is less than those of other parts of the world," Mirza said, according to a statement issued by the prime minister's office.

But the official data showed that new cases in the country are raising day by day as confirmed cases passed the 14,000 mark on Tuesday.

According to the Health Ministry, 751 new cases were confirmed during the last 24 hours, brining the total number of cases to 14,079, while 16 more fatalities in a day raised the death toll to 301.



Death and recovery ratios

Pakistan stands the second worst-hit country in South Asia after India.

India has so far reported 29,451 cases with 939 deaths, while 7,137 people have recovered so far, according to the data by US-based Johns-Hopkins University.

Death ratio in confirmed cases in India is over 3%, while recovery ratio stands at 24.2%.

In Pakistan, the death ratio was recorded to stand at 2.1%, while recoveries at 23%.

According to Pakistani Health Ministry, so far 3,233 people have successfully recovered and discharged from hospitals across the country.

Some 157,223 people have been tested in the country of over 200 million people, with almost over 6,400 tests conducted over the past 24 hours.

The northeastern Punjab province, which accounts for more than half of the country’s population, is the worst-hit area in Pakistan with more than 5,640 cases.

The southern Sindh province has over 4,956 cases, the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded nearly 1,984 cases, and the southwestern Balochistan province registered 853 cases, according to the ministry data.

The northern Gilgit-Baltistan region accounts for 320 of the country’s total cases, while the capital Islamabad has 261, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir recorded 65 cases so far.

Lahore city, the capital of Punjab province, is so far the worst-hit city, with 27.31% of the total confirmed cases, while the southern port city of Karachi stands second with 13.51% of total number of infections.

Global spread of virus

After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the coronavirus known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 185 countries and regions.

The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.

The number of confirmed cases worldwide has now surpassed 3.04 million, while the death toll is above 211,100 and more than 894,300 have recovered, according to data compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.

Despite the rising number of cases, most people who contract the virus suffer only mild symptoms before making a recovery.

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 4, 2020 at 8:11pm

Comparison of #COVID19 cases and deaths trajectories in #Pakistan with #India, #US, #Italy, #Iran & #UK. #coronavirus Source: Our World in Data https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus

https://twitter.com/haqsmusings/status/1257506387506032640?s=20

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 22, 2020 at 7:06pm

#Summer weather could help fight #coronavirus spread but won’t halt the pandemic.Any benefit would probably be lost if people mistakenly believe the virus can’t spread in #warm weather and abandon efforts that limit infections, such as #socialdistancing. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/summer-weather-could-help-fig...

New research has bolstered the hypothesis that summer’s heat, humidity, abundant sunshine and opportunities for people to get outside should combine to inhibit — though certainly not halt — the spread of the coronavirus.

But infectious-disease experts add a cautionary note: Any benefit from summer conditions would probably be lost if people mistakenly believe the virus can’t spread in warm weather and abandon efforts that limit infections, such as social distancing.

“The best way to think about weather is as a secondary factor here,” said Mohammad Jalali, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School who has researched how weather affects the spread of viruses.

The effect of weather on the coronavirus has been the subject of extensive research in recent months and is acutely relevant as the Northern Hemisphere edges closer to Memorial Day and the unofficial start of summer. States and cities are terminating or modifying shutdown orders, and millions of students trying to take classes remotely will soon see their disrupted school year come to an end.

In this transitional moment, many people who have been in quarantine will probably find themselves in places — beaches, pools, parks, recreational sites — that historically have been viewed as benign but now carry some hard-to-calculate risk of viral transmission.

Swimming in a chlorinated pool should be safe if people maintain the six-foot social distancing rule, according to new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC encouraged the use of facial coverings but cautioned they should not be worn in the water, because when wet they can make it difficult to breathe.

“There is no evidence that the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas, or water play areas. Proper operation and maintenance (including disinfection with chlorine and bromine) of these facilities should inactivate the virus in the water,” CDC spokeswoman Kate Grusich said in an email.

But people can still transmit the virus through close personal interactions in any conditions, inside or outside, in sun or rain. The global picture reveals that the coronavirus is capable of spreading in any climate. Warm-weather countries, including Singapore, Indonesia, Brazil and Ecuador, are enduring significant viral spread.

“Environmental conditions are just one more element of the equation, and not by far the most relevant. Covid-19 is spreading fiercely around the world, in all kinds of weather conditions,” Tomas Molina, the chief meteorologist at Spain’s Televisió de Catalunya and a professor at the University of Barcelona, said in an email. Molina examined the course of the outbreak in Barcelona and found a relationship between higher temperatures and lower virus transmission rates.

In recent weeks, numerous research studies, based on laboratory experiments, computer models and sophisticated statistical analyses, have supported the view that the coronavirus will be inhibited by summer weather.

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