National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal on Tuesday said the government needed at least additional 10,000 ventilators over the next few months to deal with coronavirus outbreak and has approached Chinese authorities in this regard.
“There are around 2,200 ventilators across Pakistan at the moment,” he said, adding only around half of these would be available if needed for Covid-19 patients.
After the authorities approached the Chinese authorities, they have issued instructions to their factories to provide the material Pakistanis are asking for as a preferred buyer, he added.
He said that acquiring protective gear for doctors and health staff was the first priority and “a small number” will arrive on Wednesday while another batch will arrive on Thursday. The protective equipment included around a million masks, out of which 50,000 were N-95, he told reporters.
By the end of this week, a significant number of protective gear and other equipment will arrive via air as well as by road. He revealed that the border will be opened for a day so that the equipment can be transported into the country.
He told reporters that he had held meetings with local producers as well and had told them to order whatever they needed to manufacture medical equipment from China.
“I told them that I will get you clearance from State Bank, FIA, Customs. Just bring the material here [in Pakistan],” said Lt Gen Afzal.
He said that local production had started to increase. Afzal said that the government had provided ample funds to the NDMA but several countries, including those in Europe had already signed contracts for yearly supply of ventilators and medical equipment.
