Dr Yasmin Rashid Confirms Six Coronavirus Patients In Punjab

LAHORE, (Muzaffargarh.City – 17th Mar, 2020 ) :Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Tuesday confirmed that there were six coronavirus patients in the province, including five in Dera Ghazi Khan and one in Lahore. Addressing a news conference flanked by Punjab Information Minister Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan here, she said five out of the first group of 42 pilgrims, who had returned from Iran, were confirmed as Covid-19 patients in Dera Ghazi Khan and one in Lahore. Some 736 pilgrims were being kept in the D G Khan Quarantine Centre, she said, adding complete safety of the doctors and paramedical staff performing duties at the isolation wards, quarantine centers and airports was being ensured. Dr Yasmin advised the people to adopt precautionary measures, stay at homes and avoid unnecessary traveling. She said the Tayyip Erdogan Hospital Muzaffargarh, Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute Lahore, Urology Hospital Rawalpindi and Civil Hospital Bahawalpur had been designated for coronavirus treatment, while one hospital in every division of the province would be made a quarantine centre.

Punjab at present had 1,250 ventilators, while 1,000 more were being purchased, she said, asserting that every coronapatient would not necessarily to be put on ventilator. The minister said a group of pilgrims from Iran would reach Bahawalpur, where a quarantine centre for 1200 people had been established, while another group would be kept in Multan. To a question, she said the government was not concealing the details about the coronavirus patients and it would update the masses about their number, sometimes twice a day.To another query, the health minister said it was unjustified for the young doctors to go on strike, especially at time when their services were needed to cope with the coronavirus.Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said the Punjab government had taken effective measures to curb the spread of coronavirus. He asked the traders not to hoard sanitizers, face masks and other direly needed items, and warned them of strict action if found indulged in the malpractice.