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Thursday March 28, 2024

Meeting told 24 out of total 215 quarantine centres active in KP

By Bureau report
April 01, 2020

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has set up 215 quarantine centres in the province to cater to the needs of the suspected patients of coronavirus and 24 such centres are active, a meeting was told on Tuesday.

The high-level meeting was arranged to review the latest situation of coronavirus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and to decide the future course of action. Chief Minister Mahmood Khan chaired the meeting, said an official handout.Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra, advisor to chief minister on Information and Public Relations Ajmal Khan Wazir, Corps Commander Peshawar Lt. Gen. Nauman Mahmood, Chief Secretary Kazim Niaz, Inspector General of Police Sanaullah Abbasi, administrative secretaries of Relief, Home and Health departments and other relevant officials were in attendance.The participants were informed that medical tests of the majority of Taftan “zaireen” quarantined at Darazinda area in Dera Ismail Khan have been reported clear and they are now being sent to their native places to live in the home quarantines for the next two weeks.The meeting decided to provide free ration packages to the families of the individuals kept at government quarantine facilities. The risk allowance to the frontline health and rescue workers would be announced in a couple of days. The meeting decided to devise a mechanism to regulate the private vehicles plying the cities.

The participants stressed the need for evolving a mechanism in coordination with the federal government and other provinces to safely exchange the individuals belonging to the Tableeghi Jamaat.The meeting was told that the testing capacity for the coronavirus patients had been increased from 100 per day to 300 per day. It was pointed out that 215 quarantine centres, 554 high dependency units and 2,400 Isolation beds have been arranged for coronavirus patients across the province.The participants were informed that the number of ventilators in public sector hospitals of the province has been increased two-fold. The forum was told that 15,000 volunteers have been identified for become part of the Rapid Response Teams.It was noted that there was sufficient stock of commodities in the province and effective monitoring mechanism had been put in place. The chief minister directed the Health Department to ensure the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the frontline health workers. He also directed that the testing capacity for coronavirus patients should be increased up to 2,000 per day.