Private lab to give discount on Covid-19 test

LAHORE:The Punjab government is trying to enhance the coronavirus testing capacity in the province and is also coordinating with private labs to facilitate people, said Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid here on Tuesday.

The minister met with the management of a noted private lab on Tuesday. On special request of the health minister, the lab management agreed to give 50 percent discount for first 100 patients of over 60 years of age on a daily basis.

The minister expressed her gratitude to the lab team for their support. “The private sector is responding to our call and we believe we all must come forward in this battle,” said Dr Yasmin Rashid.

mental health helpline: Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar Tuesday inaugurated the Punjab Mental Health Helpline which would provide online counselling to people suffering from depression, anxiety or other mental health issues across Pakistan due to coronavirus outbreak and subsequent lockdown. The Helpline 0304-1110063 has been established by Government College University (GCU) Lahore under the auspices of its Psychology Department.

GCU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi briefed the governor about the working of the helpline at a ceremony held in GCU’s Syndicate Committee Room. Speaking on the occasion, the governor said GCU had set up Punjab’s first tele-counse;ling centre which was a milestone addition to their already existing 30 other telemedicine centres. He said he had established first telemedicine helpline on March 19, 2020. He said appointments on merit were the key to progress. He said he had appointed all VCs on merit and now in these crucial times, the universities with their competent VCs were playing an effective role in fighting coronavirus outbreak.

He appreciated that GCU had been at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus; it established a quarantine centre for 364 people and 200 bed hospital on its Kala Shah Kaku Campus besides providing 25,000 litres disinfectant and 500 litres hand sanitizer to hospitals across Punjab. Prof Asghar Zaidi said coronavirus affected not just the physical health but also mental health; doctors and paramedics were playing a most significant part and now expert clinical psychologists had started offering their services to counter mental health issues.

He said the mental health helpline would be a great service by GCU to its nation in helping the people deal with mental stress, negative thinking, future uncertainty, depression, etc. The VC said their qualified clinical psychologists were providing counselling services to relieve the effects of stress and anxiety, management of isolation anxiety, building resilience, coping with activity restriction, dealing with hypochondria and cyber-chondria.