Pakistan launches five-day anti-polio campaign, reports lowest number of virus cases since March 8

Gulf Today Report

Pakistan launched a campaign on Monday to vaccinate millions of children against polio, as new coronavirus cases decline in the country, officials said. The five-day campaign will target more than 30 million children under the age of five, reports dpa news agency.

Students attend their class at a school in Rawalpindi as the government reopened educational institutes. AFP

Meanwhile, Pakistan has reported 1,490 coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours, the lowest number since March 8 when 1,353 cases were reported. According to the health ministry, 49,285 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours. The total number has increased to 933,630 while the death toll is 21,323. The positivity ratio is 3.02 per cent.

Around 223,000 frontline workers will spread out across 124 of the country's 154 districts to administer the oral drops, following COVID-19 safety protocols.  According to official statistics, only one case of polio has been reported so far this year.

A health worker administers polio vaccine drops to a child at a slum area in Karachi. AFP

"Back-to-back anti-polio drives during the COVID-19 lockdown that helped us reach maximum children in high-risk areas and improved security are behind decline in new cases," a health ministry official told dpa.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are among only a few countries in the world where polio is still endemic. The country came very close to eliminating polio, but recorded 147 cases, a five-year high, in 2019, amid vaccine boycotts and attacks on health workers.