PIA employees scared after two get hospitalized for coronavirus

PESHAWAR: Employees of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) are perturbed after one of their colleagues was hit by coronavirus recently.

The infected PIA employee was identified as Waqas Jahangir, a flight steward. Also, one Faheem Jan from the engineering department of PIA, was also hospitalized although an official said his condition was out of danger now.

A PIA employee told this scribe on condition of anonymity that there were no disinfectant procedures being conducted in their planes although as per rules each plane must be disinfected upon its arrival.

She pointed out that the gloves they had been given were made of plastic and substandard and the facemasks provided during flights were of poor standard. She said that the flight operations should be suspended, or the least PIA could do was to give the employees protective gear of good quality along with sanitizers. She added that the planes ought to be sprayed with disinfectants after every flight.

Another employee feared that more cases of coronavirus could emerge from now onwards following the two recent cases. Meanwhile, PIA’s general manager-medical Naeem Yaqoob denied that employees were given substandard masks and gloves. He also said that disinfectant was being used in planes on arrivals. Meanwhile, Amir Bashir told The News that one of their employees, Waqas, had become a victim of the virus but said Faheem’s case had been cleared.