LAHORE: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, accompanied by health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid and Chief Secretary Azam Suleman Khan, on Sunday visited the Expo Centre where 1,000-bed field hospital is being set up.

The chief minister inspected the facilities being established at the field hospital and met doctors and nurses.

The Punjab government has mapped all the private hospitals in the province besides universities and other educational institutions’ buildings for use as and when needed, the chief minister said, and added that “Punjab has the capacity to handle 100,000 or so coronavirus patients at a time.”

Stating that a high dependency unit in each district is ready and five field hospitals are in the making for coronavirus patients, the chief minister said the cabinet committee on coronavirus was meeting on a daily basis and resolving emerging issues and problems there and then. He said the government would soon be receiving ventilators for patients and coronavirus combat kits from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The chief minister appealed to the masses that they should follow the government instructions in letter and spirit and observe social distancing.

Ordinance is in the making

Mr Buzdar said he himself and Prime Minister Imran Khan had visited the quarantine facility in DG Khan and they were trying to sort out all kinds of problems on a daily basis. He also tweeted about the endeavour soon afterwards.

The chief minister said Taftan was the first entry point for pilgrims coming from Iran but there was shortage of required facilities there as well as in Balochistan. In order to upgrade facilities at Taftan border as well as in Balochistan, he said, the Punjab government decided to donate Rs1 billion so that the new entrants could be taken care of in a proper manner.

The chief minister said there was no food scarcity in the province and the civil administration as well as provincial ministers were available in their respective districts to ensure availability of all facilities for the people.

“The cabinet committee has already issued instructions to launch ruthless crackdown on hoarders,” he said.

The chief minister said a Corona Emergency Ordinance would be presented before the next Punjab Cabinet meeting wherein the chief secretary would present provincial contingency plan, while the finance minister would present social protection contingency plan.

INSPECTION: In order to inspect the implementation of two-day shutdown orders, the chief minister visited provincial metropolis’ areas such as Johar Town, Jinnah Hospital, Garden Town, Gulberg and Jail Road and inspected lockdown of markets, shopping malls and restaurants.

The chief minister directed the civil administration to ensure optimum implementation of the government measures regarding closure of markets, shopping malls and restaurants. “No one should be allowed to violate the government orders as these have been taken in the larger interest of the masses and protect their lives,” he asserted.

The chief minister said he was personally monitoring the ongoing campaign for the prevention of coronavirus.

MOU: The Punjab Labour Department on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department and designated its eight mini hospitals to provide facilities of treatment for coronavirus patients. The hospitals are in Lahore, Sheikhupura, Multan, Gujrat, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Jhang and Jauharabad.

As per MoU, the health department will provide diagnostic facilities, protective gear for the designated staff in the hospitals, ventilators and training to the medical staff; while the Punjab Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI) hospitals provide quarantine rooms and isolation wards for the mild, moderate and severe cases in the designated hospitals.

The PESSI will bear the expenses of medication of the admitted patients.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Punjab government has identified 16 private hospitals in Lahore and allocated 84 beds in 11 of the 16 hospitals for the coronavirus patients.

CORONAVIRUS MANAGEMENT CELL: The Punjab Home Department has converted its provincial control room into a Coronavirus Management Cell to coordinate with all government departments, private organisations and general public round-the-clock in the war against coronavirus.

DISINFECTION PLAN: As the Punjab government has directed closure of all markets, shopping malls and restaurants over the long weekend till Tuesday morning, the Punjab Local Government and Community Development (LG&CD) department in collaboration with the Rescue 1122 and civil defence department on Sunday carried out disinfection exercises in all major cities.

The government departments washed and disinfected with sprays bus stands, railway stations, hospitals and other significant points notified by the respective deputy commissioners.

“The two-day shut down in Punjab is a golden opportunity to carry out disinfection spray exercises in an effective manner,” LG&CD department secretary Ahmad Javed Qazi told field officers. He stressed that respective deputy commissioners should supervise the disinfection spray exercises.

Mr Qazi also asked field officers to prepare chlorine solution in consultation with the health department teams.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2020