HARIPUR: The isolation wards set up for Covid-19 patients lack basic facilities, including ventilators, say official sources.

Talking to Dawn here on Friday, they said two isolation wards having 12 beds each set up at the 50-bed Type-D Hospital in Dingi, had non-functional washrooms and the hospital staff and patients faced problems in accessing clean water.

They said an overhead water tank leaked causing seepage in the wards and the washrooms.

The sources said the four doctors posted in the hospital had no gloves and masks to handle the suspected patients, and the isolation wards did not have a single ventilator.

When contacted for comments, district health officer Dr Saifullah Khalid said the entire hospital building was defective.

He said the health department should not have taken over the building from the contractor. However, he said he was trying to remove the fault hindering water supply to the washrooms and other parts of the hospital.

He said for catering to the needs of Covid-19 patients the previous two wards comprising 24 beds had been done away with and 14 side rooms of the hospital had been declared as isolation wards with one

patient, one room and one washroom in line with the international protocols.

He claimed that the side rooms had running water supply.

The district health officer said the entire district had only two

ventilators which were in the DHQ hospital.

Dr Khalid said to meet an emergency he had requested private hospitals to make available ventilators. He said he had recommended training seven paramedics from Ayub Medical Complex Abbottabad for handling the ventilators.

Meanwhile, he said seven out the 14 suspected patients had tested negative while the test results of the rest were awaited.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2020