Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): The first case of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron has been reported in Islamabad.
According to sources, the patient has no international travel history and reportedly is in good health with minor symptoms.
Pakistan has on Saturday reported 353 new coronavirus infections and seven more fatalities during the last 24 hours.
On Thursday, the United States (US) authorized Merck & Co’s antiviral pill for COVID-19 for certain high-risk adult patients, a day after giving a broader go-ahead to a similar but more effective treatment from Pfizer Inc.
The US Food and Drug Administration said Merck's drug could be used when other authorized treatments are not accessible or clinically appropriate.
The drug, molnupiravir, was developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and shown to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by around 30% in a clinical trial of high-risk individuals early in the course of the illness.
It is pertinent to mention that the global coronavirus cases have reportedly surpassed 278.551 million and death toll tops 5,401,376.