Media Coverage List: April – August 2020
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Getz Pharma launched a series of initiatives under the campaign #GetzPharmaFightsCorona. Our efforts were covered and lauded by leading international news organizations, publications, and prominent personalities. Here is the list of all the media coverages that we received during this time.
News articles
Wall Street Journal:
As part of efforts to determine the extent of COVID-19 infections and safely reopening the workplace, Getz Pharma conducted testing of its entire workforce. Findings from testing revealed that 7% of the sample tested had already been exposed to COVID-19, and the majority exhibited mild to no symptoms. According to Dr. Wajiha Javed, head of public health and research at Getz Pharma, it is increasingly important that countries do not lift lockdown restrictions as there may be many silent carriers in the community.
BBC News:
With a weak healthcare system, large population, and crowded living conditions, many experts predicted that Pakistan would face the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis, especially as lockdown restrictions are eased. While in June, cases were steadily increasing, by August, Pakistan reported only 6,000 coronavirus deaths in a population of approximately 230 million people, appearing to fare better than most Western countries. However, emerging data from Getz Pharma’s seroprevalence study showed that 17.5% of the population is estimated to have been exposed to coronavirus, which raises many questions about the accuracy of official COVID-19 data due to limited testing being conducted in the country.
BBC Urdu:
While the majority of COVID-19 testing being conducted across the world focuses exclusively on PCR nasal swab tests, some private laboratories and organizations in Pakistan have introduced antibody tests which detect both past and current exposure to COVID-19. Getz Pharma was the first company in Pakistan to implement a mass screening model using antibody kits for all its employees. The findings showed that 90 percent of those who tested positive for corona showed no symptoms, which indicates the usefulness of antibody kits especially when the viral load is low. This model can allow for detecting the true extent of the virus within Pakistan.
Gulf News:
Pakistan’s largest pharmaceutical company, Getz Pharma tested 24,210 people in workspaces. The study then extrapolated those findings to the urban, adult, working population of Pakistan and found active COVID-19 infections would likely reach 4.11 million, which is almost 15 times higher than the current tally. The positivity rate for those tested in the study was 17.5%, higher than government data that shows the rate dropping to under 5% from more than 20% in June. Serology tests, private hospital data and many virus-related deaths are not being reported in the government’s official numbers, and the total cases could potentially rise if SOPs are not followed especially during the Eid holidays.
Business Recorder:
Getz Pharma, one of Pakistan’s top pharmaceutical facilities, conducted COVID-19 testing of 100% of its more than 1500 employees, to make the company a COVID-19 free zone. This data can also be used to extrapolate and project the prevalence of the virus within the country, as approximately 7% of all those tested were COVID-19 positive, while the majority of the positives showed little to no symptoms. This has important implications for making national projections for the prevalence of the virus and Getz Pharma has offered this data to government epidemiologists for this purpose.
Getz Pharma under its “Care for Heroes” initiative to combat coronavirus in healthcare facilities, disinfected over 8,000 clinics, 650 hospital wards, and conducted free screening tests of more than 25,000 doctors across Pakistan. The company would be regularly disinfecting these facilities over the next 6 months using a WHO-approved chemical and will provide personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, sanitizers, and gloves to healthcare professionals on the frontlines to ensure their safety.
Al Jazeera:
Dr. Wajiha Javed, the head of public health and research at Getz Pharma in Karachi, had been examining the prevalence of the COVID-19 among Pakistanis. Getz Pharma’s study found that the prevalence of asymptomatic carriers of the virus has been far higher than expected, and from 4,000 tests carried out on factory and office workers, between 7 and 8 percent were testing positive (as of 18th May 2020) and continuing to infect others around them.
Seroprevalence studies suggest that the rate of coronavirus infection in Pakistan is far higher than official figures illustrate. One such study conducted by Getz Pharma among office workers, healthcare workers, and contacts of coronavirus patients from various cities in Pakistan indicates that amongst 24,210 people tested, 17.5 percent held antibodies for the virus, indicating they were either currently carrying it or had recovered from it. If extrapolated to the rest of the population with similar demographics, this data suggests that as of 28th July 2020, the number of total cases in the country could be as high as 4.2 million, 15.2 times the number recorded by the government.
Studies on Pakistan’s experience with the coronavirus are still in their preliminary stages, but one seroprevalence survey conducted by Getz Pharma suggests the number of people who have or have earlier had, the virus could be as high as 17.5 percent among the country’s urban, office-going population. The Getz study suggests that Pakistan’s official number of cases, 274,289, (as of 27th July 2020) is a small fraction of the true spread of the virus. It found that most carriers of the virus in Pakistan – as many as 90 percent – appear to be symptom-free.
Six months after registering its first case, active cases in Pakistan are continuing to steadily decline. Epidemiologists, however, warn that the country may be on the brink of a second wave, especially as schools, religious gatherings, and wedding halls reopen. Dr. Wajiha Javed, head of public health at Getz Pharma, Pakistan, discusses findings from what has so far been the largest seroprevalence survey in the country, conducted on a sample of 25,000 from corporate offices and healthcare practitioners. The study found that 17.5% of the sample had previous or current exposure to COVID-19. Extrapolated to the rest of the country with similar demographics, an estimated 4.2 million Pakistanis could have already had the virus with the risk of infecting others.
Dawn:
Getz Pharma converted its factory and head offices into a screening and testing facility for its employees. Fifty-six employees, including senior managers and directors, were trained in using the FDA-approved testing kits, with the goal to complete 100% testing of all 1,300 employees, followed by testing their families for contract tracing. Getz Pharma aims to follow a test-retest-contract-tracing model, to make the workplace COVID-19 free, following the mass screening model of South Korea.
While Pakistan was focusing exclusively on Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing, Getz Pharma was the first to introduce antibody screening in the country, which detects the prevalence of the disease within a population and can be used for mass screening even outside of hospitals. Getz Pharma conducted a 100% screening of all its employees, after which many private firms, factories, banks, and restaurants approached the company to follow a similar model of mass screening to safely reopen workplaces. By 24th May 2020, a total of 2,174 people across various industries were screened by Getz Pharma. The findings showed that the total positive cases were 8.6% in the general population. Amongst high-risk frontline hospital workers, the seroprevalence of Covid-19 was assessed to be 11%, with 19% amongst families of positives contacts. These findings revealed that antibody testing can detect the prevalence of COVID-19 even amongst asymptomatic carriers, as 90% of those who tested positive presented with no symptoms.
Getz Pharma office carried out antibody screening and testing of all its employees to ensure the safety of the entire workforce. In the first phase, the factory was closed down and all the employees were tested. Those who were found infected in any way were counseled and sent home on a 30-day paid leave and the premises were disinfected. In the second phase, the families of the staff members who were infected were called in for tests.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is supervising research about the fast-track development of Covid-19 treatment in Pakistan which would help ascertain the effectiveness of anti-Malaria drugs while treating COVID-19 patients. The development emerged after Getz Pharma — Pakistan’s only WHO-approved manufacturing facility — joined hands with the University of Health Sciences in Lahore to support research projects that could include clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug shown to be effective against the coronavirus, pushing the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency approval of the product.
Arab News:
Findings from the largest seroprevalence survey in Pakistan conducted by Getz Pharma revealed that 17.5 percent of the sample of 25,000 people had contracted COVID-19. While Pakistan has made significant progress against the virus in terms of declining COVID-19 cases, the country may experience a second wave if proper SOPs are not implemented especially during the religious processions of Muharram.
MedRxiv article:
Population-level serologic testing has demonstrated groundbreaking results in monitoring the prevalence and case-fatality of COVID-19 within a population. In Pakistan, Getz Pharma conducted a seroprevalence survey on a sample of 24,210 individuals using the IgG/IgM Test Kit. This is the first of its kind, a large-scale census conducted on a dense, urban, working population in Pakistan. The study results reveal that from 24,210 individuals screened, 17.5% tested positive, with 7% IgM positive, 6.0% IgG positive, and 4.5% combined IgM and IgG positive. These findings have been extrapolated to the rest of the urban, adult, working population of Pakistan, and as of 6th July 2020, 4.11 million people in Pakistan have been infected with COVID-19, which is 17.7 times higher than the current number of 231,818 symptom-based PCR cases reported by the government which excludes asymptomatic cases.
MedRxiv article tweeted by The NewYorkTimes reporter:
In Pakistan, Getz Pharma conducted a seroprevalence survey on a sample of 24,210 individuals using the IgG/IgM Test Kit. The study results reveal that from 24,210 individuals screened, 17.5% tested positive, with 7% IgM positive, 6.0% IgG positive, and 4.5% combined IgM and IgG positive. These findings have been extrapolated to the rest of the urban, adult, working population of Pakistan, and as of 6th July 2020, 4.11 million people in Pakistan have been infected with COVID-19, which is 17.7 times higher than the current number of 231,818 symptom-based PCR cases reported by the government which excludes asymptomatic cases.
Getz Pharma’s Journal Publication in Gavin Publishers:
Population-level serologic testing has demonstrated groundbreaking results in monitoring the prevalence and case fatality of COVID-19 within a population. In Pakistan, Getz Pharma conducted a seroprevalence survey on a sample of 24,210 individuals using the IgG/IgM Test Kit (Colloidal Gold) with follow-up and sequential testing after every 15-20 days on a subsample. This is the first of its kind, a large-scale census conducted on a dense, urban, working population in Pakistan. The study results reveal that from 24,210 individuals screened, 17.5% tested positive, with 7% IgM positive, 6.0% IgG positive, and 4.5% combined IgM and IgG positive. These findings have been extrapolated to the rest of the urban, adult, working population of Pakistan, and as of 6th July 2020, 4.11 million people in Pakistan have been infected with COVID-19, which is 17.7 times higher than the current number of 231,818 symptom-based PCR cases reported by the government which excludes asymptomatic cases.
South Asia Investor Review:
Antibody testing of 7,000 adults in Karachi revealed that as many as 15% of them have already been exposed to COVID19 without experiencing symptoms, according to a study by Dr. Wajiha Javed, an epidemiologist and head of public health and research at Getz Pharma in Pakistan. This data raises the possibility that millions of Pakistanis may have already been exposed to coronavirus. It takes at least 40% of the population to be exposed to build herd immunity. This may be the only way to normalcy unless there is a vaccine available sooner.
Getz Pharma’s Dr. Wajiha Javed, studying antibody test results of over 7,000 adults aged 18-65 within 6 weeks found that 15% of the sample tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies. People tested included those working for banks, restaurants, textile mills, factories, media, and health care workers. Over 90% of those who tested positive in Karachi did not have any symptoms or had only mild symptoms, but were infectious and spreading the virus to others. Because of their non-existent or mild symptoms, they had not reached out to a PCR testing facility to get tested for COVID-19 and were only incidentally picked out for the antibody test during Getz’s study. This data raises the possibility that millions of Pakistanis may have already been exposed to coronavirus.
In Pakistan, Getz Pharma conducted a 100% census seroprevalence study on a sample of individuals with follow-up and sequential testing after every 15-20 days. The sample included an adult, working population between the ages of 18-65 years in urban workplaces of Karachi. The results revealed the prevalence of COVID-19 amongst asymptomatic people using serologic test kits, which allow mass screening hence indicating the total numbers of the infected population which may be many folds higher than indicated by PCR tests which show that only 231,818 people are currently COVID-19 positive in Pakistan.
Bloomberg:
Pakistan’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer Getz Pharma tested 24,210 people in mostly urban workspaces. The study then extrapolated those findings to the urban, adult, working population of Pakistan and found active COVID-19 infections would likely reach 4.11 million, which is almost 15 times higher than the current tally. The positivity rate for those tested in the study was 17.5%, higher than government data that shows the rate dropping to below 5% from more than 20% in June. This study showed the severe data deficit in terms of the true prevalence of COVID-19 infections in the country.
The News:
Getz Pharma under its ‘Care for Heroes’ initiative to combat coronavirus in healthcare facilities, disinfected over 8,000 clinics, 650 hospital wards, and conducted free screening tests of more than 25,000 doctors across Pakistan. The company also provided protective equipment such as PPEs, masks, sanitizers, and gloves to ensure the safety of healthcare professionals fighting on the front-lines to combat this pandemic. The company has donated more than 1.9 million Hydroxychloroquine tablets, 15,000 testing kits, and over 1,500 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Sindh government in efforts to play its part in pandemic response.
Getz Pharma plans to disinfect over 8,000 clinics, 650 hospital wards and conduct free COVID-19 screening tests of more than 25,000 doctors across Pakistan. The company would also regularly disinfect these areas using a WHO-approved chemical for the safety of healthcare practitioners on the frontlines.
Getz Pharma has collaborated with the University of Health Sciences (UHS) Lahore, for the largest drug trial on Covid-19 “Pakistan Randomized and Observational Trial to Evaluate Coronavirus Treatment (PROTECT)”. The preliminary results of the trial not only established the safety of hydroxychloroquine but have also shown a significant recovery rate in Covid-19 patients when used in combination with azithromycin and oseltamivir. The results were made public in a ceremony at UHS, which was presided over by Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, and attended by the provincial minister for higher education Raja Yassir Humayun, vice-chancellors of medical universities, researchers, and faculty members.
The Nation:
Getz Pharma, under its “Care for Heroes” initiative to combat the coronavirus in healthcare facilities, is disinfecting over 8,000 clinics, 650 hospital wards and conducting free screening tests of more than 25,000 doctors across Pakistan, as well as disinfecting the clinics with a WHO-approved chemical to ensure the safety of healthcare practitioners on the frontlines.
Pakistan’s leading pharmaceutical company, Getz Pharma donated 15000 testing kits and 1.9 million tablets of Hydroxychloroquine to the Sindh government to help in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The company also donated 1500 units of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for doctors and healthcare workers, dispatched to hospitals, isolation wards, and clinics across Sindh, including Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Nawabshah, and Larkana, to ensure the safety of health care professionals in the frontlines.
Getz Pharma initiated the national ‘Care for Heroes’ campaign to protect frontline health workers battling the pandemic. The disinfection drive was conducted across Sindh and Punjab, using a WHO-approved disinfecting material. Encouraging the private sector to help ease the government’s burden, Vice-Chancellor, University of Health Sciences Lahore Prof. Dr. Javed Akram expressed his gratitude towards Getz Pharma for leading the way in pandemic response.
TV coverage
Geo News:
Pakistan’s leading pharmaceutical company, Getz Pharma, announced that it had decided to test all of its employees and their families for the novel coronavirus, making it the first and only organization in Pakistan to have taken the initiative of 100% screening of all employees for the virus.
The factory and head office in Karachi will be closed and converted into testing and screening facilities for this purpose. 56 employees of the company received training in the US for the testing, to ensure the procedures are carried out smoothly and ensuring a safe reopening of the workplace. Only those who are found negative will be allowed to enter the facility and work, and those who are found positive will be sent home on a paid leave after counseling. The families of all workers will be tested in the second phase of testing. The CEO of the firm said that they were following South Korea’s example, which has proven to be a successful one in curbing the coronavirus spread.
Getz Pharma under its “Care for Heroes” initiative to combat coronavirus in healthcare facilities, disinfected over 650 hospital wards, and conducted free screening tests of more than 25,000 doctors across Pakistan. The company also provided personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, sanitizers, and gloves to ensure the safety of health care professionals on the frontlines, and donated more than 1.9 million Hydroxychloroquine tablets, 15,000 testing kits, and over 1,500 PPEs to the Sindh government in its efforts to combat COVID-19.
Getz Pharma under its “Care for Heroes” initiative to combat coronavirus in healthcare facilities, disinfected over 8,000 clinics, 650 hospital wards, and conducted free screening tests of more than 25,000 doctors across Pakistan. The company also provided personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, sanitizers, and gloves to ensure the safety of health care professionals on the frontlines, and donated more than 1.9 million Hydroxychloroquine tablets, 15,000 testing kits, and over 1,500 PPEs to the Sindh government in its efforts to combat COVID-19.
The private sector has a vital role to play in combating the pandemic. Getz Pharma is supporting the healthcare fraternity to fight COVID-19 by conducting free screening tests of more than 25,000 doctors across Pakistan. The company is also donated more than 1.9 million Hydroxychloroquine tablets, 15,000 testing kits, and over 1,500 PPEs to the Sindh government in its efforts to combat COVID-19.
Dr. Khurram Hussein, Director HR, and Medical Affairs at Getz Pharma talk about the effectiveness of mass screening using rapid antibody tests. Getz Pharma is one such company that has initiated antibody testing of all its employees, which is a more cost-effective method of screening that can be used to increase a country’s testing capacity. The results from Getz Pharma’s 100% screening showed that 7% of the sample of 1,000 people tested were positive for COVID-19 and the majority of positives were asymptomatic. This mass screening and testing model can enable safe reopening of workplaces as those who have recovered from the virus can return to work without infecting others around them, while those who test negative are to be retested every 15-20 days. PCR tests are unable to detect asymptomatic carriers hence the best way forward is to engage in mass-scale antibody testing.
In Pakistan, Getz Pharma conducted 100% testing of all its employees using antibody kits. Getz Pharma CEO and Managing Director, Khalid Mahmood speak about all measures taken by the company to ensure the safety of the entire workforce during COVID-19. Following the mass testing model of South Korea, Getz Pharma screened all of its employees at the company’s head office and factory. Out of a total of 1000 tests conducted, 7% tested positive for COVID-19, who was then sent home after counseling. Getz Pharma is also conducting contact tracing amongst contacts of families of COVID-19 positive patients to curb the spread of the disease. These results have important implications for assessing the true prevalence of the virus in the Pakistani population.
Khalid Mahmood, CEO and Managing Director at Getz Pharma talks about the various initiatives the company has taken in pandemic response.
Getz Pharma is the first and only organization that has taken the decision to test all its employees by converting its offices into a testing facility, leading the way in implementing a mass screening and testing model in Pakistan.
Geo News Urdu covered the initiatives by Pakistan’s leading pharmaceutical company, Getz Pharma, in donating 1.9 million Hydroxychloroquine tablets, 15,000 testing kits, and over 1,500 PPEs to the Sindh government in its efforts to combat COVID-19.
Dawn:
Dawn covered the initiatives by Getz Pharma in pandemic response, which has to lead the way in mass screening and testing of all its employees using antibody kits. Antibody testing detects the prevalence of COVID-19 within a population, including past and current exposure to the disease. According to a seroprevalence study conducted in Los Angeles, antibody tests can detect up to 85 times more than the cases detected by PCR tests, hence this model can be implemented in Pakistan to ensure that even asymptomatic carriers of the disease are not excluded from official COVID-19 figures.
Dr. Khurram Hussein, Director of Medical & Human Resources at Getz Pharma talks about the importance of the corporate sector leading the way in mass screening of employees for COVID-19, and the need to implement best practices and healthcare guidelines in a post-lockdown world.
Naya Daur:
Naya Daur, in conversation with Dr. Wajiha Javed, Head of Public Health & Research at Getz Pharma discusses the data discrepancies between official COVID-19 figures and the cases detected by antibody screening. Getz Pharma has led the way in implementing a mass screening model using FDA-approved antibody kits, which can detect more than the number of cases picked up by PCR tests, as it captures the true prevalence of the disease in the country including asymptomatic carriers.
PTV:
Mr. Khalid Mahmood, CEO and Managing Director at Getz Pharma in discussion with PTV News talks about the need for the private sector to increase testing and employ antibody kits that are being used all over the world to detect COVID-19 prevalence within populations.
City 42:
City 42 covers Getz Pharma’s initiatives in pandemic response, including its “Care for Heroes” disinfection drive which is conducted every month in cities across Sindh and Punjab. Under this initiative, the company recently disinfected Gulab Devi Hospital in Lahore, which caters to thousands of patients in a year.
HUM News:
Mr. Khalid Mahmood, CEO and Managing Director of Getz Pharma in conversation with HUM News discusses the lessons learned from COVID-19 and the way forward. “COVID-19 has taught us that more resources should be allocated towards healthcare development” and Getz Pharma led the way in pandemic response to ensure the safety of all its employees and healthcare practitioners on the frontlines.
24 News:
Getz Pharma set up COVID-19 screening camps for the employees of City42 and 24 News HD, in its efforts towards curbing the spread of the virus. Getz Pharma’s trained professionals employed in the screening camps first took medical histories of all employees followed by counseling sessions based on the test results.
Samaa TV:
Antibody tests are being hailed as game changers in COVID-19 testing as they generate results within 10-15 minutes compared to PCR testing. Following the example of many other countries, Samaa TV sheds light on how Pakistan also needs to implement an antibody testing model to ensure that the true numbers of COVID-19 cases are captured in official data.
Arif Alvi appreciating Getz Pharma’s efforts:
The President of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi appreciates Getz Pharma’s initiative to support the research on COVID-19 treatment in collaboration with the University of Health Sciences, Lahore, in a public-private partnership.
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