Coronavirus: Pakistan stuck between India and Iran

Pakistan has the unfortunate situation of sharing borders with two countries that are going through significant COVID-19 waves right now: India and Iran. Per Worldometer, Pakistan is now suffering through what I believe would be considered a third wave. What are some of the reports about what is occurring in Pakistan? Is India or Iran potentially responsible for this wave of infections?

The Telegraph (Apr 27):

The country of around 220 million is currently recording an average of around 5,500 cases and 130 deaths per day – similar levels to the peak of the first wave seen last June. A lack of testing means those official figures are thought to be a significant undercount.

The government has admitted that the number of patients needing oxygen is far higher than it was last summer.

. . . Travel from India has been banned, including the closure of the land border at Wagah, and tensions between the neighbours mean there are no direct flights. Yet while officials who have seen sequencing data say there is no sign in Pakistan yet of the “double mutant” variant found in India, the easily transmissible UK variant has taken widespread hold.

Our World in Data indicates that Pakistan is performing way more tests than it was in 2020. So even though current cases are likely under-counted, they were probably more undercounted in the 2020 wave. The fact that more oxygen is being required likely indicates that the UK variant causes much more damage to the body compared to the original variant.

We need to keep an eye on if this "double mutant" variance makes its way into Pakistan.

The Mint (Apr 26):

Amid the sudden rise in coronavirus cases in Pakistan, the federal government has warned they will be forced to impose a complete lockdown in the country if the current positivity rate of COVID-19 cases continues in the coming week.

Aljazeera (Apr 25):

The Pakistani ministry of foreign affairs offered to send medical aid to India on Saturday.

“As a gesture of solidarity with the people of India in the wake of the current wave of COVID-19, Pakistan has offered to provide relief support to India including ventilators, BiPAP, digital X-ray machines, PPEs and related items,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted.

I'm sure Pakistan is trying to be generous to a country that they have had conflicts with, but on the other hand one would think that they should be holding on to these medical supplies to deal with their own potential wave. It is a nice gesture, but other countries (that are also wealthier) should be stepping up.

Aljazeera (Apr 24):

All flights to and from India and Pakistan were suspended as Iran continues to deal with a severe fourth wave of COVID-19 infections.

The decision to stop the flights came on the suggestion of the health ministry that recommended the move since it said the coronavirus strain found in India could pose a much graver risk than the variant first found in the United Kingdom, which has now become dominant in Iran.

In my quick Internet search, my only finds regarding discussions about Iran and Pakistan was how Iran was stopping flights between the two countries. Just based on what I'm seeing, Iran's fourth wave is much worse than Pakistan's third wave so to me Pakistan is the one that should be suspending flights with Iran. 

Anyways, it seems like the focus of various articles is that Pakistan's wave is likely more driven by what is going on in India versus Iran. Perhaps more trade / interaction is down between Pakistan and India versus Pakistan and Iran. Also, this just might be a regional issue where all three countries felt like they had the virus under control and then just lost control.