600 Zaireen in DG Khan go home: Yasmin

LAHORE: Over 600 Zaireen in Dera Ghazi Khan, who had come from Iran have been tested negative for coronavirus after serving mandatory 14-day quarantine period.

“Alhamdolillah, more than 600 Zaireen who were tested negative for COVID19 completed the 14 days quarantine period and gone home,” said Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid in a statement on Wednesday. “However, they will still be kept under observation,” she added.

Meanwhile, as many as 16 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed from across the province on Wednesday, taking the number of confirmed COVID19 patients to 312 in Punjab.

According to the coronavirus monitoring room at Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, a total of 176 coronavirus patients are pilgrims who recently returned from Iran, and they are kept in isolation in DG Khan. As many as 77 patients are under treatment in Lahore, 21 in Gujrat, 19 in Jhelum, eight in Gujranwala, three in Multan, two each in Rawalpindi and Faisalabad and one each in Sargodha, Rahimyar Khan, Narowal and Mandi Bahauddin.

According to a P&SH Department spokesman, all patients are getting treatment at isolation wards. He said that serious patients were immediately shifted to High Dependency Units (HDUs). He urged all the people who recently came from abroad to stay at home and contact the department on its helpline on getting symptoms. “They will be shifted to health facility for free test and treatment,” he added.

Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid informed that a 1200-bed quarantine facility had been established and was ready on UET campus at Kala Shah Kaku, while 19,000-bed other facilities had also been identified in various districts of Punjab.

She informed that Punjab government had also upgraded capacity and safety level of eight labs across the province. She said a 100-bed hospital had also been set up in Camp Jail in Lahore, where prisoners would be screened for COVID19. “We stand to protect our people,” she added.