PARACHINAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Thursday visited Bannu and Kurrum districts to review the arrangements and facilities put in place to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
During his trip to district Bannu, he visited quarantine centre set up at the Bannu University of Science and Technology. Chief Secretary Kazim Niaz also accompanied him. Bannu Division Commissioner Adil Sadiq told the chief minister a total of 19 quarantine centres had been set up in the division with seven in the divisional headquarter having a total capacity of 1700 individuals. There were three isolation centres in the division. Mahmood Khan was informed that 1100 people with foreign travel history had been traced and tracked in Bannu. Talking to the media, Mahmood Khan said the coronavirus pandemic was a challenge not only to Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa buy also the entire globe, adding the only effective way to control its outbreak is to maintain maximum social distancing.
He said the provincial government was taking care of the members of Tableeghi Jamaat (religious preachers) hailing from other province and presently staying at different parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The chief minister appealed to the public to cooperate with the administration in maintaining maximum social distancing. He hoped the government would soon be able to overcome the crises with the support of the public. Mahmood Khan admitted that there were deficiencies as far as the availability of necessary medical equipments and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the frontline health workers was concerned but said the KP government was taking steps to overcome that. He appreciated the role of the media for giving awareness to the public about coronavirus. Later, he visited the Kurrum district and saw different quarantine facilities at Parachinar. The district administration briefed him about the arrangements made to fight the pandemic.