Coronavirus pandemic: 4,855 health workers affected

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: The new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to affect health workers countrywide, with 68 more of them testing positive in the past 24 hours.

A report prepared by the National Institute of Health, Islamabad and forwarded to the Ministry of National Health Services showed that corona had affected 40 doctors, six nurses and 22 paramedics in the past 24 hours.

The toll of health workers affected by the virus has reached 4,855, says the report. The report highlights that 2,950 doctors had so far tested positive, followed by 583 nurses and 1,322 other health workers.

“Currently, 2,478 health workers are quarantined at their homes, while 307 are receiving treatment at hospitals across the country, and all of them are said to be in a stable condition,” says the report.

The report detailed that 2,022 coronavirus-positive healthcare workers had recovered. On the other hand, 48 healthcare workers have so far died.

Sindh remains the worst affected province, as 18 medics have died so far. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab reported death of 10 and eight health workers respectively, followed by five deaths in Balochistan.

Four health workers have succumbed to the infection in Islamabad and three in Gilgit-Baltistan region. Meanwhile, corona continues its killing spree countrywide despite that the federal and all the provincial governments have taken a slew of measures to contain the pandemic.

On Sunday, 119 more people died countrywide taking the death toll to 3,557. The number of confirmed cases rose to 179,592 with addition of 4,951 cases.

Sindh reported 69,628 cases, Punjab 65,739, Balochistan 9,475, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 21,997, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan 1,278 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) 813. The number of recovered patients stood at 67,892.

Punjab is at the top in terms of deaths and Sindh at top in terms of number of coronavirus patients. According to the latest figures issued by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) on Sunday 4 951 persons have been tested positive for COVID 19 in 24 hours.

Sindh has become the worst hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Patients are under treatment at quarantine centers of 462 hospitals where 7,295 beds are available.

A total of 1,071,642 coronavirus tests have been conducted so far and 28,855 in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar Sunday said the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) had identified 92 hotspots in 20 cities which cover 40 percent of all active cases of COVID-19 and lockdown in these areas would affect only three percent of total population of the country.

Addressing a media briefing at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), the minister said an effective hotspot lockdown could make a decisive difference. He said by imposing lockdown in selective areas, substantial impact on disease spread could be achieved while minimizing disruption in livelihood of citizens.

Asad Umar, who also leads the NCOC on corona virus, said in order to cope with increasing pressure on hospitals with oxygen beds, the federal government had decided to provide 1,000 beds to various hospitals across the country by end of the current month, while 1100 more beds by the end July 2020.

He said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal had visited all big cities across the country to identify the requirement of oxygen beds and NCOC had already given go ahead to the NDMA for provision of beds to different hospitals.

Giving details about provision of beds in Islamabad, the minister informed that within a week, three hospitals of the federal capital would get 189 beds in total out of which 20 beds had already been provided to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) hospital and 39 more would be provided in a few days.

Similarly, he said 13 beds were provided to Polyclinic hospital and 40 beds would be provided to PIMS in a couple of days, 52 more beds would be provided on Wednesday and 25 beds would be provided to PIMS on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services Regulations and Coordination Dr. Zafar Mirza Sunday asked the people to take special care of their elders in the face of coronavirus pandemic.

Briefing the media in Islamabad, Dr. Zafar Mirza stressed the need for wearing facemasks observing social distancing and washing hands frequently to stay safe.

He said so far 72 percent people above 50 years of age had lost their lives due to coronavirus infection. He said that out of 3 500 persons passed away due to coronavirus were over 50 years old. He said 70 to 75 percent patients who died due to coronavirus had different diseases including sugar, blood pressure, and heart.

He advised senior citizens to avoid public transport and crowded places. He said the Ministry of National Health Services had issued special guidelines at the website covid.gov.pk for protection of the senior citizens from coronavirus.

“We have to fight against this disease at the individual level family level and community level,” he said listing down things that everyone should do to slow down the spread of Covid-19 while protecting the elderly.

Urging everyone to wear masks in public, Mirza reminded the nation that the government had made it mandatory to wear masks in public to prevent the spread of infections. “It doesn’t have to be a surgical mask, the point is to cover the face to prevent infection,” he said.

Mirza recommended keeping a physical distance of at least 6 feet from others while in public. Shaking hands, hugging or any sort of physical contact is strictly not recommended, he said. Mirza said hands tend to cause infections because of how often they come in contact with the mouth.

“Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water. You can also use a sanitizer but soap and water is more effective,” he said. Highlighting the most vulnerable groups of population, Mirza said it was incumbent upon the younger healthier people in the family to protect the elderly.

“If an elderly loved one is already suffering from a preexisting condition such as diabetes, blood pressure, heart disease or cancer, it’s our job to protect them,” he said. He recommended that the elderly’s physical contact be minimised and urged them to take precautions to protect themselves from infection.

“The elderly should definitely wear masks, wash hands and stay physically away from people,” he said, adding that living rooms of the elderly should be disinfected often. If they [the elderly and vulnerable] develop symptoms of fever, sore threat or cough, they should be isolated and a doctor should be contacted immediately,” Mirza said.

Meanwhile, the death of 60 more patients on Sunday raised the death toll to 1,407 in Punjab, while confirmed cases reached 65,739 with the addition of 1,523 new infections, according to report issued by the Primary and Secondary Healthcare (P&SH) Department. Former Punjab health minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed has also tested positive and admitted to Jinnah Hospital, Lahore.

So far 545 casualties have been confirmed from Lahore, 266 from Rawalpindi, 132 from Faisalabad, 105 from Multan, 57 from Gujranwala, 52 from Sialkot, 36 from Rahim Yar Khan, 31 from each Gujrat and Bahawalpur, 22 from Sargodha, 16 from Sheikhupura, 14 from each Mianwali and Dera Ghazi Khan and Sheikhupura, 10 each from Sahiwal and Kasur, eight each from Nankana Sahib and Muzaffargarh, six from Toba Tek Singh, five each from Attock, Okara and Hafizabad, four each from Lodhran and Chiniot, three each from Jhang, Bhakkar and Jhelum, two each from Rajanpur, Narowal, Bahawalnagar, Khushab and Vehari, one each from Khanewal and Pakpattan and none from Chakwal, Layyah and Mandi Bahauddin.

So far 33,811 COVID-19 patients have been confirmed from Lahore, 5,412 Rawalpindi, 4,485 Faisalabad, 4,379 Multan, 2,973 Gujranwala, 1,788 Sialkot, 1,614 Gujrat, 1,158 Dera Ghazi Khan, 1,068 Bahawalpur, 856 Rahim Yar Khan, 837 Sheikhupura, 817 Sargodha, 756 Muzaffargarh, 507 Hafizabad, 495 Kasur, 457 Sahiwal, 408 Toba Tek Singh, 364 Jhelum, 362 Vehari, 324 Bahawalnagar, 297 Layyah, 287 Attock, 283 Nankana Sahib, 273 Lodhran, 249 Mianwali, 247 Mandi Bahauddin, 233 Jhang, 213 Khanewal, 210 Chiniot, 209 Okara, 189 Narowal, 183 Khushab, 180 Bhakkar, 125 Rajanpur, 124 Pakpattan and 66 Chakwal.