Pakistan has detected another 37 Covid-19 infections with no fatality during the last 24 hours (Thursday), showed the statistics released by the National Institute of Health (NIH) on Friday morning, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
According to the NIH data, the death toll in the country remained unchanged at 30,641 whereas the number of total infections now climbed up to 1,576,640 after adding the fresh 37 cases.
COVID-19 Statistics 17 February 2023
— NIH Pakistan (@NIH_Pakistan) February 17, 2023
Total Tests in Last 24 Hours: 4,978
Positive Cases: 37
Positivity %: 0.74%
Deaths: 00
Patients on Critical Care: 11
(shared by NCOC-NIH)
During the last 24 hours (Thursday), 4,978 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio also swells to 0.74 percent. The number of patients in critical care stood at 11.
Covid infection gives similar immunity to vaccination: study
The protection against Covid-19 from being previously infected lasts at least as long as that offered by vaccination, one of the largest studies conducted on the subject said on Friday.
Ten months after getting Covid, people still had an 88 percent lower risk of reinfection, hospitalisation and death, according to the study published in the Lancet journal.
That makes this natural immunity "at least as durable, if not more so" than two doses of Pfizer or Moderna's vaccines, the study said.
The authors nevertheless emphasised that their findings should not discourage vaccination, which remains the safest way to get immunity.
The study, led by the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), said it was the most comprehensive analysis on how long protection lasts for the different forms of immunity.
The researchers reviewed 65 studies from 19 countries up to September 2022, meaning some covered the period when Omicron swept across the world.
Omicron proved to be more contagious than previous strains, but less severe.
People with natural immunity from a pre-Omicron variant saw their protection against reinfection wear off much more quickly for the early Omicron strains, dropping to 36 percent after 10 months, the study said.
"Vaccines continue to be important for everyone in order to protect high-risk populations such as those who are over 60 years of age and those with comorbidities," study co-author Caroline Stein of the IHME said in a statement.
The study also gives a more accurate picture of what Covid might look like in the future, as more vaccinated people are reinfected, acquiring "hybrid immunity".
"In the long run, most infections will occur in people with strong protection against severe disease because of previous infection, vaccination, or both," said Cheryl Cohen, an epidemiologist at South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
"These results suggests that, similar to other human coronaviruses, there might be a low seasonal hospitalisation burden" associated with Covid, Cohen said in a Lancet commentary.
France drops Covid testing for travellers from China
France has dropped Covid testing restrictions imposed on travellers from China, the French embassy in Beijing said.
Since January, visitors aged 11 and over travelling from China to France have had to present a negative test taken 48 hours before the flight to board the plane.
The restrictions were introduced as China experienced a wave of coronavirus infections after lifting its stifling zero-Covid policy in December.
"Travellers from China to France are no longer required to present the result of a negative RT-PCR test within 48 hours or fill a health declaration form," the French embassy in Beijing said in a statement on Thursday.
"Random screenings on arrival are also abolished," it added.
China reopened its borders and scrapped mandatory quarantine for those entering the country in January, ending its international isolation after nearly three years.
The relaxation led to a surge in outbound travel. Overseas bookings via China's largest travel service were up 640 percent during the Lunar New Year holiday in January compared with last year.
China is now allowing group tours to 20 countries, according to the tourism ministry.
Several countries, including Japan, South Korea and Singapore, have also eased restrictions on travellers from China in recent weeks.
With inputs from AFP.