CM Usman Buzdar visits hospital at Expo Centre

LAHORE: Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar visited the field hospital at Expo Centre, Lahore on Wednesday and inspected the facilities arranged for the coronavirus patients. He expressed satisfaction that this 1,000-bed facility had been set up in a short period by employing collective efforts.

“I visited the Expo Centre nine days ago to inspect the arrangements and it is satisfying that the facility has been functionalised in such a short period. I also congratulate the line departments and it is sanguine that necessary facilities have been arranged in this hospital,” he said.

Staying home is the best way to prevent from coronavirus and the government has also given attention to other hospitals, he told. Meanwhile, a sum of Rs620 million has been released for the diagnostics labs and eight new labs will be set up to diagnose the coronavirus. He stated that Raiwind has been quarantined due to surfacing of coronavirus cases, adding that Chief Minister Insaf Imdad Programme had been started from Wednesday to facilitate the daily wage earners. The people will receive financial aid under CM Insaf Imdad Programme from Thursday (today), he added. The government has also released Zakat funds worth Rs870 million to help 170,000 deserving families, he asserted. The CM emphasised that the government had adopted a very transparent and fast procedure to provide financial aid which is unique in the history of the province.

Usman Buzdar stated that Rs10 billion had been allocated to provide financial aid worth Rs4,000 each to 2.5 lakh impecunious families under CM Insaf Imdad Programme which is online. The antecedents of the applicants will be verified and lakhs of people will be provided with this aid immediately after verification. He emphasised that applicants would not have to visit any office and financial aid would be paid online after receiving the required information. The applicants can also lodge their complaints online, he mentioned.

The CM stated that doctors and nurses were being trained at the district level adding that majority of coronavirus patients were pilgrims with travel history; 33 are locally transmitted patients, he continued. Provincial ministers are assigned duties to supervise the measures for dealing with coronavirus in their districts. They will also monitor the distribution of financial aid under CM Insaf Imdad Programme along with the monitoring of the wheat procurement campaign, he stated.

Wheat will be procured at Rs1,400 per maund and the restriction of 'Gardaweri' has been done away with. Similarly, the government has issued SOPs for wheat procurement centres and the wheat will be purchased on 'first come, first served' basis, the CM concluded.