ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: The tally of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Pakistan breached the grim milestone of 10,000 on Wednesday, as the nation continued to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic that has left at least 212 people dead.
Sindh reported its biggest jump in virus cases in a 24-hour period, with 320 infections, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said. The province’s total now stands at 3,373. Punjab reported three more cases, with its patients numbering 4,331. Balochistan has 552, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 1,345, Islamabad 194, Gilgit-Baltistan 283 and Azad Kashmir 51 at the time of this report.
The surging cases led Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza to declare the next three-to-four weeks as “very critical” for the country. “In the last 24 hours, we have received the highest number of deaths from Covid-19— for the third time in Pakistan,” he said.
Dr Mirza said that the spread of communicable diseases in Pakistan was high “due to ignorance” on the matter. “We do not pay attention to the fact that communicable diseases are preventable,” he said, and lamented that guidelines are neglected in Pakistan. Dr Mirza said the government is aiming to have a capacity of 20,000 tests per day by the end of the month.
Separately, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi estimated that the coronavirus is expected to hit a peak in May and June. “We have to formulate our strategies while considering all these factors,” the minister asserted, noting that Pakistan is a poverty-stricken country and cannot survive a lockdown for an extended period, echoing the federal government’s resolve to ease the lockdown.
Meanwhile, a group of top doctors at a press conference in Karachi, belonging to the Pakistan Medical Association painted a sobering picture of what frontline workers were facing and urged the government reconsider easing restrictions.
Urging the government and religious leaders to continue to abide by recommended precautions instead of easing restrictions, they warned a point would otherwise come when they would have to choose between one of two patients to save.
“This is a medical problem which [of course] has its resulting economic and social effects. But we need to understand that this is nonetheless primarily a medical issue,” said Dr Saad Niaz, a gastroenterologist at the Dow University of Health Sciences. He said between April 16 and 21, there was a near 40 per cent increase in virus patients in the country. Dr Niaz regretted that there was unfortunately the impression that this is not as serious an issue in our country as in other countries. “The reason for that is our testing capacity, which is an issue that will remain,” he said. “The wards are all already 80 per cent saturated. And in Pakistan’s case, there are more patients who are under 60 years of age,” he said.
Dr Niaz also drew attention to the fact that an increasing number of doctors are getting affected, with as many as 162 who had already caught the infection in Sindh. “Projected figures stand at 70,000 and if even 10 per cent of those are serious cases, we don’t even have the capacity to accommodate those. There are no ventilators. Our only option is to be aggressive with precautions. We don’t have the skill or capacity to combat something of the scale it could reach.”
Dr Abdul Bari, the chief executive of Indus Hospital, said a lockdown of at least two incubation periods would show some positive signs. He said the arrival of Ramadan, which had prompted the government to review the measures taken and subsequently ease restrictions, had resulted in a surge in cases.
In positive news, Prime Minister Imran Khan tested negative for the coronavirus a week after coming in contact with a corona-positive person. “I am happy to report that his test is NEGATIVE,” Prime Minister’s aide Firdous Awan said in a tweet.—News Desk