Zartaj Gul offered a rather novel COVID-19 definition that left people scratching their heads
Zartaj Gul Wazir, Pakistan’s State Minister for Climate Change, has been a top trend on Twitter in Pakistan due to a recent interview with the State-run Pakistan Television Network (PTV) about coronavirus. In the interview, Wazir said that the virus was known as COVID-19 due to 19 points that can be applied to countries based on respective immunity levels.
The statement from the minister has left many befuddled and scratching their heads. In reality, ‘CO’ stands for corona, ‘VI’ for virus, and ‘D’ for the disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as ‘2019 novel coronavirus’ or ‘2019-nCoV.’ The COVID-19 virus is a new virus linked to the same family of viruses as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and some types of common cold.
While there has been a storm of tweets about the gaffe by the minister, she appears to be unperturbed by the incident. IN a twee from her official account, Wazir said “Every day I appear on national TV and speak without a piece of paper (parchi). Wanted to say that the infections effect and intensity varies across different countries. Instead of crying on the situation over a minor mistake, maybe that will be better for them. I am not afraid of criticism, it strengthens me.”
Pakistan is one of the more effected countries by coronavirus with more than 181,000 people testing positive. More than 71,000 people have recovered from the virus as well. According to official statistics, more than 4,400 people have tested positive during the last 24 hours with 89 people losing their lives.
UNDP has also assessed that Pakistan can see a sharp increase in poverty due to economic slowdown. Clearly, a strong direction and leadership is needed in order to come out on top when coronavirus finally comes under control.