ABBOTTABAD/MANSEHRA: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Wednesday said the government would establish coronavirus testing laboratories at divisional level across the province.

Addressing a ceremony held at the Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad, to inaugurate a Covid-19 testing laboratory, the chief minister praised the role of doctors and paramedics as frontline workers in the fight against pandemic and said their efforts helped stem the spread of the virus in the province.

He said despite having limited resources, the government would fulfil needs of hospitals and provide the maximum possible facilities to patients in Hazara division.

Mr Mahmood also inaugurated a PCR testing facility and urged the people to follow lockdown and take preventive measures against the virus.

Earlier, ATH medical director Dr Ahsan Aurangzeb briefed the chief minister about the treatment of coronavirus patients on the premises and said a separate block with an intensive care unit and an isolation ward had been put up for such cases.

CM visits Abbottabad, Mansehra health facilities

He said efforts were under way to take the hospital’s coronavirus testing capacity to at least 200 daily.

The chief minister was accompanied by Speaker of the provincial assembly Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, provincial ministers Akbar Ayub Khan and Qalandar Khan Lodhi, chief secretary Dr Kazim Niaz, inspector general of police Sanaullah Abbasi, health secretary Syed Imtiaz Shah, commissioner of Hazara division Zaheerul Islam, police DIG Qazi Jamilur Rehman, MNA Ali Khan Jadoon and the 19 Div commander.

He was earlier briefed by commissioner Zaheerul Islam about health facilities and efforts to contain coronavirus in Hazara division.

Later, the chief minister visited the Kunj quarantine centre.

Also in the day, Mr Mahmood met a delegation of traders at the New Circuit House in Mansehra and said his government was working on standard operating procedures for the reopening of businesses.

“We want to address your problems on a priority basis and will do everything possible to make things easier for you,” he told traders.

The chief minister also chaired a meeting of local lawmakers and heads of government departments and said his government didn’t want to create an environment in which both people and traders suffered.

“We have been protecting people from Covid-19 and trying to keep economy on track at the same time, so the people should extend support us,” he said.

The chief minister visited the 40-room quarantine centre established by the district administration in the Ghazikot Girls’ Elementary College.

Assistant commissioner Talat Fahad briefed him about the precautionary measures being taken against Covid-19.

Mr Mahmood later visited the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital, where medical superintendent Dr Shahzad Ali Khan briefed him about the arrival of patients and services provided to them.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2020