PMA wants extension in lockdown

LAHORE: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), while expressing concern over rapid spread of coronavirus among medical personnel and the general public, has demanded extension in lockdown with strict enforcement.

Addressing a press conference here at the PMA House on Tuesday, PMA office-bearers including Dr Ashraf Nizami, Dr Izhar Chaudhry, Dr Shahid Malik, Dr Azimuddin Zahid, Dr Salman Kazmi, Dr Wajid Ali and others informed that as many as 509 medical professionals have contracted coronavirus including 263 doctors (52 per cent), 171 paramedics (33 per cent) and 75 nurses (15 per cent), and this number is continuously increasing.

“The medical professionals are the frontline soldiers in the country’s fight against coronavirus,” they said and added that any harm to the frontline of defence against Covid-19 will spell disaster in the country.

In Pakistan, there are 21,501 confirmed Covid-19 patients and 486 have perished so far. In Punjab, the cases are 8,103, while 7,882 cases are in Sindh, 2,321 in Balochistan, 3,288 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 464 in Islamabad, 71 in Azad Kashmir and 372 in Gilgit-Baltistan. In the last 24 hours, a total of 1,315 new Covid-19 patients and 24 deaths have been confirmed across the country. In Pakistan, as many as 222,404 tests have been conducted so far including 9,857 tests in the last 24 hours.

The PMA office-bearers, while presenting their suggestions, demanded that the government provide WHO-standard personal protective equipment (PPE) including N-95 masks and other supplies to all medical professionals. They demanded increase in capacity and accelerating the process of testing as per WHO-recommendations. They urged the government to implement the policy of home isolation for Covid-19 patients in Punjab as the speaker, National Assembly, who got infected by the virus, had isolated himself at home.

They suggested that instead of establishing new Corona Wards in existing hospitals, the government must establish dedicated hospitals for Covid-19 patients as it was rendering healthcare providers, patients, attendants and other visitors in hospitals vulnerable. Besides, they said, the treatment of remaining patients in hospitals has come to a halt due to scare of coronavirus. For this purpose, they proposed to bring attached hospitals of private medical colleges in use to accommodate Covid-19 patients. They demanded establishment of 1000-bed Infectious Disease Hospitals in all mega cities and removal of temporary field hospitals in the country.

They urged the governor, State Bank of Pakistan, to take notice of long queues outside banks and make alternative arrangements for consumers to ensure social distancing. “The opening of various bank branches may be divided in day and evening shifts,” they proposed.

They urged the city traffic police officer to ensure submission of Challan fines online or through easy paisa mobile service. They urged all deputy commissioners to remove temporary hand washing setups and establish permanent facilities by installing wash basins. They urged the traders community to observe shutdown policy and do business online. They demanded forming a committee comprising forensic medicine experts to issue SOPs regarding burial of Covid-19 victims.