Staff Reporters
Peshawar/Islamabad
State of emergency has been declared in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) due to alarming coronavirus outbreak, while instructions have been issued to health and other concerned departments in this regard. According to details, the statement directed the health department and relevant agencies to take essential measures in this one-month emergency state.
Special instructions were also given for preventative steps against the deadly virus along with submitting a satisfactory response amid coronavirus epidemic.
Earlier, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Dr. Zafar Mirza said that there is no case of the coronavirus in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, China’s death toll from the coronavirus epidemic soared past 371 so far, with deepening global concern about the outbreak and governments closing their borders to people from China. The fresh toll came a day after China imposed a lockdown on a major city far from the epicentre and the first fatality outside the country was reported in the Philippines.
It is to be mentioned here that World Health Organization has provided necessary assistance to Pakistan to prevent coronavirus in the country. The assistance includes technical guidance, tools for screening along with laboratory support and management of coronavirus cases at federal and provincial levels.
Meanwhile National Institute of Health (NIH) on Monday has taken samples of six Chinese and Pakistani nationals from Karachi, Multan and Lahore for diagnosis of coronavirus. According to details, the reports of patients are likely to be completed in 48 hours.
It is to be mentioned here that World Health Organization has provided necessary assistance to Pakistan to prevent coronavirus in the country. The assistance includes technical guidance, tools for screening along with laboratory support and management of coronavirus cases at federal and provincial levels.
On the other hand, China’s death toll from the coronavirus epidemic soared past 360 on Monday, with deepening global concern about the outbreak and governments closing their borders to people from China.
The fresh toll came a day after China imposed a lockdown on a major city far from the epicentre and the first fatality outside the country was reported in the Philippines.
Authorities in Hubei, the province at the epicentre of the outbreak, reported 56 new fatalities, with one reported in the southwestern megalopolis of Chongqing. That took the toll in China to 361, exceeding the 349 mainland fatalities from the 2002-3 SARS outbreak.
Meanwhile an Isolation Ward has been established at Allied Hospital Faisalabad to provide treatment to patients of coronavirus, if any. According to Medical Superintendent (MS) Allied Hospital Dr Khurram Altaf, although no patient of coronavirus was reported in Faisalabad so far, yet the hospital administration had taken precautionary measures and set up an Isolation Ward with the latest equipment. He said that training of doctors and paramedical staff had also been completed and they were ready to deal with any emergency.
Meanwhile, an official source told APP that the Aviation Division had made elaborate screening measures at all the country airports in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak in China, under which special health desks had been established in collaboration with the departments concerned at international arrival lounges.
