Mistreatment of corona patients’ intolerable: PM Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday regretted the incidents of unfair treatment of coronavirus patients, saying this was intolerable and a cause of fear.

He observed this while presiding over a meeting of the National Task Force here.

Chairman National Health Task Force Dr Nosherwan Burki, Special Assistant to the PM on National Health Dr Zafar Mirza, Punjab Health Minister Punjab Dr Yasmin Rashid, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Taimoor Saleem and senior officers attended the meeting.

PM's Focal Personal for Covid-19 Dr Faisal Sultan was also part of the meeting.

Imran emphasized the need for raising public awareness about the current situation and said as a person and a responsible citizen, ‘we all have a responsibility to deal with the person, who has been affected by the coronavirus with complete responsibility.’

"If people feel signs of the coronavirus, they should go for a quick and fearless test," the prime minister said. In this regard, he stressed the importance of the initiative to launch a comprehensive public awareness campaign to address the unnecessary public perception and fear and directed a coherent strategy in this regard.

"The situation in Pakistan is so far more controlled than in other countries," the prime minister said, while referring to the lower rates of the virus in Pakistan than in other countries.

“The situation can improve significantly by adopting a protective approach and boosting public confidence,” he contended.

The provincial health ministers informed the participants about the virus situation in their respective provinces, care of patients in hospitals, safety and convenience of doctors and medical staff, and increase in the coronavirus testing capacity.

“Pakistan has been less affected by the virus than other countries, Dr Faisal,” the Prime Minister's Focal Personal for Coved-19, said, giving a briefing on the statistics, mortality rates, cases of the virus in different provinces and regions of the country.

The participants were informed that the number of testing labs of the coronavirus had been increased from 4 to 63 as compared to March.

Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid briefing the meeting about the measures taken in relation to the ‘home quarantine’ and said the line of action on this count would be announced very soon.