Provinces pre-designate hospitals to tackle any eventuality

Islamabad : Calling for stronger coordination at the federal and provincial levels, the PM’s Special Assistant on Health Tuesday announced that the provinces have pre-designated hospitals to accommodate Novel Coronavirus patients, should there be an eventuality necessitating such emergency action.

Addressing an inter-provincial review meeting convened here Tuesday to take stock of the situation arising in the wake of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak in China and its exportation to several countries, Dr. Zafar instructed that hospitals of Islamabad too should designate separate wards for patients in case of need. There has been no case in Pakistan thus far.

The meeting was attended by Secretary Health Dr. Allah Bakhsh Malik, Executive Director of the National Institute of Health Amir Ikram, representatives of all provinces as well as the Pakistan Army, and health experts.

Dr. Zafar shared an update on the preventive and precautionary interventions that have thus far been taken for protection against Novel Coronavirs. These include fool-proof measures for screening of passengers on all airports. He added that the Chief Ministers of all provinces have, in writing, approached all stakeholder agencies for support.

Dr. Zafar said, human-to-human transmission of Novel Coronavirus is very high, which means that the spread of the disease from one infected person to another can be extremely fast, thereby making it imperative for any country to be in the highest state of preparedness.