Adherence To Covid SOPs Becomes More Important Due To Delta Strain Presence

Clean hands, masks covering nose and mouth, avoiding crowded places, keeping distance and special care to be in an adequately ventilated space (if indoor) are simple tools to avoid Covid -19 threatening the world with its fast mutating strains each turning to be more deadlier than other with the passage of time

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Jul, 2021 ) :Clean hands, masks covering nose and mouth, avoiding crowded places, keeping distance and special care to be in an adequately ventilated space (if indoor) are simple tools to avoid Covid -19 threatening the world with its fast mutating strains each turning to be more deadlier than other with the passage of time.

As the presence of Delta variant, also known as Indian variant, has been established in different cities of the country, healthcare providers talking to APP said the people in Pakistan like their counterparts across the globe, seemed to susceptible to the Covid -19 infection and its varied strains.

"It is all the more important for them to realize its (Delta's) presence in the environment, its intensity and their vulnerability," said Dr Khadija Ansari.

She urged the masses to understand that restricted social mobility with due care towards personal hygiene as clean hands, appropriate use of mask - ensuring washing hands before putting and removing mask- and other simple measures could help them avoid contracting and/or spreading infection thus largely countering the disease.

"The current threat of Delta, that originated in India causing heavy human loss is not only the deadliest of all Covid 19 strains but is established to be most transmissible with capacity to spread very fast," senior researcher and microbiologist Dr Shahana Urooj Kazmi said.

Appealing to the people to ensure vaccination with utmost care towards completion of the needed course, she emphasized that available vaccines, in particular context of Indian or Delta variant was significantly efficient in protecting infected individuals against severity of the disease that enhanced the chances of mortality.

Mentioning that the need for hospitalization, closely associated with the strain, could also be significantly curtailed through adequate administration of corona vaccines, the researcher reiterated that the SOPs' compliance could not, however, be ignored at any cost.

With regard to sudden and steady increase in the particular Delta variant in Karachi, Dr Ansari said it factually played havoc in the country of its origin in India and later-on also severely affecting several other countries due to its increased transmissibility and virulence.

Optimum vaccination of citizens is registered to be helpful in providing needed safety cover. However, developing countries, with low vaccination settings have to focus more on reducing risks directly linked to adequate adherence to SOPs against all COVID-19 variants but all the more in context of Delta that is being monitored by WHO across the globe.

"Prevalence of the lethal virus is not restricted to Delta strain," said a provincial health department official mentioning that the United Kingdom, Brazilian and South African variants had also been identified in Karachi and certain other cities making adherence to standard operating procedure(SOPs) all the more relevant.

Reminding that many of the people were yet to be jabbed while there was also a sizable number of those who needed to complete the required vaccination course, he said the capacity of virus to spread fast and steadily was a fact that could not be ignored at any level.