Islamabad, January 8, 2024 – The Ministry of Health in Pakistan has confirmed at least four cases of the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus COVID-19.
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Pakistan Civil Aviation Strengthens COVID-19 Preventions
Karachi, January 7, 2024 – In response to the escalating global COVID-19 situation, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has reinforced its commitment to public health by implementing stringent preventative measures across major airports nationwide.
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Pakistan Initiates Omicron Testing at Airports
Islamabad, January 5, 2024 – In a bid to fortify its defenses against the potential threat of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Pakistan has announced the initiation of tests for the new strain at its airports for arriving passengers from abroad.
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Pakistan Issues Advisory Amid Fast Spread of Omicron
Islamabad, January 3, 2024 – As the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus continues to spread rapidly across the globe, Pakistan has issued a comprehensive advisory to address the emerging challenges posed by the newly identified JN.1 sub-variant.
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Ministry Clarifies No Omicron Case Reported in Pakistan
Islamabad, January 2, 2024 – The Ministry of Health in Pakistan moved swiftly on Tuesday to dispel concerns, asserting that no cases of the Omicron variant, specifically the JN.1 variant of the Corona virus, have been reported in the country.
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Pakistan instructs surveillance of travelers to prevent coronavirus
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday issued instructions to authorities for surveillance of travelers in order to prevent novel coronavirus.
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Toyota Motors suspends production at Tsutsumi plant
JAPAN: Toyota Motors Corporation on Monday announced to suspend production at Tsutsumi Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan after detection of Covid-19 cases.
The company apologized for the anxiety and concern that this news may cause to people in the surrounding regions. The virus is an issue that has the potential to affect all Toyota locations and company is still working to further enhance communication and health checks with staff at all locations.
READ MORE: COVID-19 cases reported at Toyota work sites
Toyota is actively implementing measures to prevent the further spread of the virus and remain committed to provide timely updates as the situation requires.
Announced on August 8, 2022
Location, Worksite
Tsutsumi Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Type of worker
Line workers (two males in their 30’s, a male in his 40’s.)
Affect to production operation
Suspended operations on production line #1 at Tsutsumi plant for the second shift on August 8.
Date tested positive
August 5 and 6, 2022
Last date at work
August 5, 2022
Date work site was disinfected
August 5, 2022
Others
Due to difficulties in ensuring the safety and security of our employees and in having the necessary personnel for operation, we have decided to suspend operation.
Announced on July 27, 2022
Location, Worksite
Takaoka Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Type of worker
Line workers (three males 20’s, a male 30’s, three males 40’s, a female 30’s.)
Affect to production operation
READ MORE: Global car manufacturers agree to introduce electric mini-commercial vans
Suspended operations on production line #1 at Takaoka plant for the second shift on July 27.
Date tested positive
July 24, 25, and 26, 2022
Last date at work
July 23 and 25, 2022
Date work site was disinfected
July 25 and 26, 2022
Others
Due to difficulties in ensuring the safety and security of our employees and in having the necessary personnel for operation, we have decided to suspend operation following the decision announced on July 26.
Announced on July 26, 2022
Location, Worksite
Takaoka Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Type of worker
Line workers (two males 20’s, a male 30’s, two males 40’s.)
Affect to production operation
Suspended operations on production line #1 at Takaoka plant for the second shift on July 26.
Date tested positive
July 24 and 25, 2022
Last date at work
July 23, 2022
Date work site was disinfected
July 25 and 26, 2022
Announced on January 20, 2022
Location, Worksite
Tsutsumi Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Type of worker
Line workers (4 males each in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s.)
Affect to production operation
Suspended operations on production line #1 at Tsutsumi plant for the second shift on January 20.
Date tested positive
January 17, 18, and 19, 2022
Last date at work
January 17, 2022
Date work site was disinfected
January 17, 18, and 19, 2022
Announced on January 19, 2022
Location, Worksite
Tsutsumi Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Type of worker
Line workers (ten males in 20’s, one male in 30’s, and three males in 40’s.)
Affect to production operation
Decided to suspend operations on production line #2 at Tsutsumi plant for the first shift from January 19 to 22.
Date tested positive
January 18 and 19, 2022
Last date at work
January 18 and 19, 2022
Date work site was disinfected
January 18 and 19, 2022
Location, Worksite
Tsutsumi Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Type of worker
Line workers (eight males in 20’s and 40’s.)
Affect to production operation
Production line #2 at Tsutsumi plant halted operation for the first shift on January 19.
Date tested positive
January 18, 2022
Last date at work
January 18, 2022
Date work site was disinfected
January 18, 2022
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COVID-19 cases reported at Toyota work sites
Takaoka Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan: Toyota Motors Corporation on Tuesday announced COVID-19 cases reported at its work sites.
In a statement the company said that this news may cause to people in the surrounding regions.
The virus is an issue that has the potential to affect all Toyota locations and we are continuously working to further enhance our communication and health checks with staff at all locations.
“Toyota is actively implementing measures to prevent the further spread of the virus and remain committed to provide timely updates as the situation requires,” the company added.
The company shared the following information:
Announced on July 26, 2022
Location, Worksite
Takaoka Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Type of worker
Line workers (a male in his 20’s, two males in their 30’s, a male in his 40’s, a female in her 30’s.)
Affect to production operation
Suspended operations on production line #1 at Takaoka plant for the second shift on July 26.
Date tested positive
July 24 and 25, 2022
Last date at work
July 23, 2022
Date work site was disinfected
July 25 and 26, 2022
Announced on January 20, 2022
Location, Worksite
Tsutsumi Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Type of worker
Line workers (4 males each in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s.)
Affect to production operation
Suspended operations on production line #1 at Tsutsumi plant for the second shift on January 20.
Date tested positive
January 17, 18, and 19, 2022
Last date at work
January 17, 2022
Date work site was disinfected
January 17, 18, and 19, 2022
Announced on January 19, 2022
Location, Worksite
Tsutsumi Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Type of worker
Line workers (ten males in 20’s, one male in 30’s, and three males in 40’s.)
Affect to production operation
Decided to suspend operations on production line #2 at Tsutsumi plant for the first shift from January 19 to 22.
Date tested positive
January 18 and 19, 2022
Last date at work
January 18 and 19, 2022
Date work site was disinfected
January 18 and 19, 2022
Location, Worksite
Tsutsumi Plant in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Type of worker
Line workers (eight males in 20’s and 40’s.)
Affect to production operation
Production line #2 at Tsutsumi plant halted operation for the first shift on January 19.
Date tested positive
January 18, 2022
Last date at work
January 18, 2022
Date work site was disinfected
January 18, 2022
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FBR fears coronavirus spread to affect revenue collection in last two months
ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has feared that fast spread of coronavirus in the third wave may affect the efforts of revenue collection during the last two months.
The FBR in a statement on Saturday said that the revenue collection during the last days of April was slowed down because of measures taken by the government to stop spread of coronavirus.
The FBR feared that spread of coronavirus may affect the revenue collection efforts in the last two months of the current fiscal year.
The FBR issued revenue collection figures that showed it achieved a 14 percent growth in net revenue collection for the period July – April 2020/2021.
However, the revenue body is still facing challenging task to generate over Rs900 billion to achieve revised downward annual target of Rs4,690 billion.
The FBR has been assigned Rs4.96 trillion revenue collection target for the fiscal year 2020/2021. However, after consultations the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had revised downward the revenue collection target to Rs4.691 trillion for the ongoing fiscal year.
As per the provisional collection, the FBR collected Rs3,780 billion during July – April 2020/2021 as compared with Rs3,320 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year, showing a increase of 14 percent.
However, the collection was higher than Rs3,637 billion – the assign collection target for the period under review.
The FBR said that it had collected record revenue in April 2021. The FBR collected Rs384 billion in April 2021, which was 57 percent higher when compared with Rs240 billion in the same month of the last year.
The gross revenue collection of the FBR was Rs3,976 billion during first 10 months of the current fiscal year as compared with Rs3,438 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.
The issuance of refunds grew by 65 percent during first 10 months of the current fiscal year. The FBR issued refunds worth Rs195 billion during July – April 2020/2021 as compared with Rs118 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.
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FPCCI urges following coronavirus SOPs to avert industrial halt
KARACHI: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Saturday urged trade and industry to follow SOPs related to coronavirus in order to avert complete halt of industrial and economic activities.
FPCCI’s ruling group BMP Chairman Mian Anjum Nisar has asked the traders to strictly follow the government’s SOPs in markets for curbing the spread of deadly coronavirus and averting halt of the industrial wheel.
Moreover, there is also need to speed up vaccination process, especially for the industry workers in the country, for the smooth operation of trade and industry, he added.
“The businessmen themselves have to ensure a strict implementation of the standard operating procedures in markets and commercial areas in order to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic,” he said and warned that the third wave of coronavirus had spread to dangerous levels and the situation demanded that the business community play a role in strict compliance with the SOPs in business areas to control further Covid-19 infections.
Mian Anjum Nisar stressed that a reduction in coronavirus cases would help the government to consider easing restrictions on businesses, as it would cause great losses to trade activities, render thousands of daily-wage workers and other workers jobless, making the lives more miserable, fuel a further increase in inflation besides badly impacting the economy.
He said that during the third wave of coronavirus the situation has been deteriorating mainly due to lack of implementation of COVID-19 standard operating procedures and the solution lies in speeding up our vaccination programs, instead of opting for closure of trade and industry amidst GDP growth of just 1.5 percent. He said that in view of combating the coronavirus situation the government can impose smart lockdown where required, as complete lockdown would halt industry.
The FPCCI former president pointed out that due to the previous lockdowns, Pakistan’s economy had suffered a loss of billions of dollars while millions of workers lost their jobs. Pakistan’s economy suffered negative growth last fiscal year for the first time in the history due to Covid-19, he said, adding that the best way to save the economy and businesses from more losses is to follow the SOPs.
He observed that the complete lockdowns had created havoc globally, as the countries, which were providing loans had also came under debts while Pakistan is already facing financial crunch due to huge burden of debts. So, complete lockdown is not a good option, he added.
He observed that the government will have to make visible reduction in taxes in the budget to help revive the businesses, which are near to bankruptcies owing to slowdown amidst coronavirus.
He asked the government to take concrete steps to attract foreign investment, saving the livelihood of millions of workers associated with various sectors, as foreign investment in Pakistan’s long-term projects like power plants and oil and gas exploration.
The BMP Chairman said that with a view to save the economy from the impacts of the slowdown due to the COVID-19 the government should announce special incentives for a cash-strapped SMEs, which represents more than 90 percent of around 3.2 million business enterprises in Pakistan, contributing 40 percent to the GDP, employing more than 80 percent of non-agricultural workforce, and generating 25 percent of export earnings.
He expressed dissatisfaction over the financial packages by the government for the businesses to deal with the financial crunch, called for a significant cut in import duties and waiver of sales tax, income tax and additional income taxes, for the smooth running of trade and industry.
He asked the government to expedite the process of vaccination and supply ample quantity of doses not only to the whole public but also to the trade and industry.
Mian Anjum Nisar said that rising mortality in the midst of the third Covid-19 wave and growing anxiety in the business circles over possible restrictions on international travel and trade necessitate ramping up the pace of vaccination.
To speed up inoculations, the government will need to bridge vaccine supply gaps with active participation from the federating units and the private sector, he added.