Polyclinic making masks, hand sanitizers for staff

Islamabad : The Federal Government Services Polyclinic, the federal capital’s second largest government hospital after Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), has begun making face masks and hand sanitizers for staff members by themselves to protect them from coronavirus, whose outbreak has killed many in the country due to their careless conduct.

“After struggling to get hold of masks and hand sanitizers for own employees, especially doctors and paramedics, due to serious shortages in the market, we’ve tasked our tailors, who make us gowns, coats, bed sheets, pillow covers and other stuff, with producing the personal protective gear to meet the hospital needs. They’ll make 1,500 masks daily,” spokesman for the hospital Dr Imtiaz Ahmad told ‘The News’.

He also said the top management of the hospital had asked the pharmacy department to produce hand sanitizers for employees in line with international quality standards.

The spokesman said the surplus face masks and hand sanitizers would be given away to patients and their attendants.

He said the hospital had set up an isolation ward with 25-28 beds for suspected coronavirus cases and had four ventilators on the premises.

“We are fully prepared to give our maximum in the fight against coronavirus. We will collect samples from suspected coronavirus cases and send them to the National Institute of Health for testing,” he said.

Dr Imtiaz asked people to stay home, step out only when unavoidable, limit social contact, and wash hands or use hand sanitizer frequently to prevent the virus.