KARACHI: Sharing concerns over the continued rise in Covid-19 cases in the community as well as among healthcare staff, health experts have called upon the government to immediately address gaps failing its strategy.

The city, they said, had very limited dedicated crucial care facilities for Covid-19 patients and the situation was getting serious day by day with an increasing number of healthcare staff getting infected.

Over the past two days, according to the health department data, the city saw 193 cases of local transmission with seven deaths.

The official count for healthcare staff so far diagnosed with coronavirus infection in Karachi is 34, including 13 doctors at the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutton Trauma Centre Accident and Emergency Trauma Centre.

“The continued rise in local transmission can largely be blamed on Covid-19 patients who are either asymptomatic or have mild illness. They are unable to understand why the disease is being described as serious when they have mild or minor illness,” explained Dr Samreen Sarfaraz, the lead infectious diseases consultant looking after the Covid-19 facility at the Indus Hospital.

193 cases of local transmission in two days

Such patients, she pointed out, were not admitted to the hospital (per government strategy) and asked to be home-quarantined — which meant that they should restrict ones’ self to a room and follow the same precautions advised for preventing Covid-19 spread.

“But, they don’t follow the guidelines and maintain relations with family and friends. Second, many people are still not convinced about the necessity of praying at home these days and getting infection at religious gatherings,” she said, adding while many religious scholars agreed to the lockdown guidelines, many schools of thought didn’t.

About the Covid-19 facility at the Indus Hospital, she said it was almost full and no more patients were being admitted, though plans were afoot to expand it.

“Our 20-bedded facility with ventilators is full with patients of all age-groups. Patients with mild disease are referred to either Expo Centre or quarantine facilities in Gadap and Dumba Goth,” she said.

Reports of increasing infection were sapping the morale of the staff and the government needed to take measure that restore their confidence in the system, he said.

Daily-wage earners the worst hit

The lockdown, according to experts, is not being properly implemented in many areas.

In many cases, people who were violating the lockdown are mainly daily-wage earners, forced by poverty to come out.

The government, they said, must address their needs to flatten the coronavirus curve.

“They are bearing the brunt of this crisis. They are frustrated and out in the streets. They would go to any lengths for their starving families,” said Dr Qaiser Sajjad of the Pakistan Medical Association.

He also shared his concerns over the cases of coronavirus infection among healthcare workers and said the government must look into this on priority basis.

“We are losing our frontline force. They all must be provided with protective gear and tested for coronavirus. An infected healthcare professional can spread the infection to many people including his family and colleagues that can further spread the virus,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2020