Pakistan hospitals may run out of space if people don’t take COVID-19 seriously: Imran
Prime minister assures doctors, medical staff of adequate coronavirus protection kits
Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan has warned if cases of coronavirus continue to rise and people remain indifferent to this steady rise, hospitals in Pakistan may run out of space for patients.
Addressing a press conference in Quetta on Thursday, the prime minister said cases in Balochistan were increasing every day. However, he said the real challenge was to convince the masses to take the threat seriously.
He urged the people to maintain social distancing to prevent spread of the novel coronavirus and cautioned the viral disease would increase in the days to come, particularly by the end of the current month.
The prime minister assured the government was supplying coronavirus protection kits to the doctors and paramedical staff at all the hospitals of the province.
“We have to monitor the coronavirus situation in neighbouring countries as well.”
He said that the daily wagers are facing extreme problems due to the countrywide lockdown.
Imran Khan also visited a coronavirus quarantine centre at Bolan Medical College Hospital. The Chief Secretary of Balochistan briefed the prime minister about the facilities at the quarantine centre.
The prime minister’s visit comes as the number of confirmed cases in the country rose to 4,437.
The country has also recorded 65 deaths with KP having recorded 20, Sindh 21, Balochistan two, GB three, Punjab 17 and one in Islamabad.
A day earlier, while addressing a press conference the prime minister had urged the country’s youth to get themselves registered with the Coronavirus Relief Tiger Force (CRTF) to help the poor and daily wage earners and provide them food and medical assistance.
“It is a misconception that this pandemic is spreading slowly in the country as the number of deaths in Pakistan has been low so far and it will not spread rapidly; it will become worse in the days to come,” Imran Khan said.
“If we don’t take preventive measures, the deadly disease will rise in the country like it did in Europe and will cause a lot of trouble for us,” the prime minister said, adding the people had to adopt social distancing by themselves as lockdown was not a solution and the government and police could not keep people in their homes by force.
He warned if people did not follow self-social distancing, the virus would spread at a faster rate and put burden on the health care system.