–Dr Attaur Rahman says Pakistan is working closely with China to enhance its response against coronavirus pandemicLAHORE: As coronavirus cases continue to increase in Pakistan, scientists are looking into the genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2 to understand how it affects the local population to help the health authorities devise an effective treatment strategy. Speaking to Pakistan Today, Prime Minister’s Task Force on Science and Technology Chairman Dr Attaur Rahman said that due to genetic differences between populations across the world, it is important to understand how the virus has mutated in Pakistan before a comprehensive treatment strategy can be devised. Meanwhile, he said, clinical trials of some drugs have also been started to test their efficiency in treating COVID-19 patients in the country. “Chloroquine is said to be effective against the virus but we need more localised data to determine its effectiveness in Pakistan,” he added. “The Pakistan Engineering Council is currently evaluating those prototypes and whichever prototype is approved by all relevant departments will be put into mass production,” he added.

Source: Pakistan Today March 28, 2020 17:48 UTC