–Imran regrets mistreatment of coronavirus patients in hospitals
–Punjab says has developed mobile app to keep track of ventilators, beds availability across province
–Sindh says cases increasing in northern parts of province compared to southern region
ISLAMABAD: Amid a spike of over 5,000 cases in just three days, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday reiterated that Pakistan was faring better in terms of the number of the coronavirus infections compared to the rest of the world.
Chairing a meeting of the National Health Task Force, the PM said the situation in the country was “under control” and that it could be further improved if the precautionary measures issued by the government were holistically followed.
With 28,551 infections in total by Saturday night, Punjab and Sindh have the highest number of infections, with 10,471 and 10,771 cases, respectively. Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have reported 1,873 and 4,327 cases each. In Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan, the infection swelled to 609 and 421, respectively. However, Azad Kashmir has the lowest number of cases, with 79 infections so far.
Emphasising the importance of a robust public awareness campaign over the recent coronavirus situation, Prime Minister Imran observed that people must take care of coronavirus patients with greater responsibility.
During the meeting, the prime minister expressed his regret over reports regarding mistreatment of coronavirus patients, and said such attitude was unbearable. He further observed that if anyone had symptoms of coronavirus, he or she should immediately get himself tested without any hesitation.
The prime minister underlined the need for taking steps for the launch of a comprehensive public awareness campaign and directed for the formulation of a coordinated strategy in this regard.
The provincial ministers apprised the meeting about the latest situation, treatment of patients in the hospitals, steps for the protection and facilitation of doctors and paramedical staff and enhancement of corona testing capacity in their respective provinces.
PM’s focal person Dr Faisal in his briefing presented details about the number of patients in different provinces, deaths and the ratio of the cases. He said Pakistan had been less affected by the pandemic when compared with other countries of the world.
It was also informed that the number of coronavirus testing labs had been increased from 4 to 63 as compared to the month of March
‘APP DEVELOPED TO KEEP TRACK OF VENTILATORS’:
The National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) was informed on Saturday that the Punjab government has developed a mobile application to indicate bed occupancy and availability of ventilators in hospitals across the province.
The application would help the officials of Rescue 1122 track the beds and ventilators’ availability in every district of the province, Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid apprised the meeting chaired by Minister for Planning Asad Umar.
Accordingly, she said, the Rescue 1122 and provincial health department staff were being provided necessary training.
Asad Umar appreciated the Punjab government for taking a lead in developing an application to keep the health officials updated in real-time. He directed the other federating units to replicate the initiative for effective handling those COVID-19 positive patients who had been home-quarantined.
The meeting was also given a practical demonstration of the application.
Briefing the NCOC about smart lockdown mechanism in Punjab, Dr Yasmin said that the province was all set to issue detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in that regard.
All-out efforts would be made to enforce the smart lockdown across the province, she added. The health minister said that Punjab had increased its testing capacity and would run extensive awareness drive on SOPs to communicate the guidelines to the citizens. A notification for home quarantine of the corona-positive patients would be issued shortly, she added.
Sindh Health Minister Azra Fazal Pechuho said that the virus spread in central and northern Sindh had been increasing gradually, whereas the number of cases was showing a downward trend in the southern part of the province.
She said that at least 22 areas had been under lockdown in Karachi which had emerged as a virus hotspot in Sindh, adding the virus was being transmitted to other districts due to the inter-city travel.
The representatives of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit Baltistan also apprised the NCOC about their strategies in enforcing the smart lockdowns in their respective areas.
The meeting was also informed that the Rural Support Programme had been activated in the federal capital to enhance community mobilization against the COVID-19. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) also shared its plan for the procurement of critical equipment.
The meeting was also attended by National Coordinator Lt Gen Hamooduz Zaman, Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Moeed Yusuf.
