Shahbaz asks govt to isolate virus patients outside hospitals

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif, in a consultation meeting with medical experts, has demanded that the government immediately isolate coronavirus patients outside hospital premises to protect the medical staff, patients and visitors to the hospitals. Former federal health minister Saira Afzal Tarar, former Punjab health ministers Khwaja Salman Rafique and Khwaja Imran Nazir, Ayesha Raza Farooq, Dr Saeed Akhtar, Dr Naeeemuddin Mian, former DG Health Punjab Dr Zahid Pervaiz, Dr Sajjad Rafique, YDA Punjab President Dr Salman Haseeb, Dr Shabbir Chaudhry, Dr Nauman Chaudhry, Prof Dr Faisal Amin, leader of Paramedical Staff Association Malik Munir, YNA Punjab President Ms Rozina and others participated in the video-conference.

Shahbaz demanded that the government set up makeshift quarantine facilities in marriage halls, mosques, schools and colleges to accommodate COVID-19 patients. However, he said the coronavirus patients should not be stigmatized and must be treated with compassion. He asked for conducting coronavirus tests free of cost.

He urged the government to immediately complete the mapping of people coming from foreign countries, and issue a comprehensive data of their screening, testing and treatment in a transparent manner. “Hiding of facts will not help solve the problem,” he added.

He called for conducting training of doctors, nurses and medical staff as well as police to properly handle the coronavirus patients. “The doctors, nurses and paramedical staff must be properly equipped with protective gear and other essential medical supplies,” he said, adding that the medical teams are frontline soldiers in this fight against coronavirus, and “if our frontline defence is hurt, it will destroy the efforts to defeat coronavirus”.

A communiqué issued after the meeting demanded that the government issue details of daily screening of people, new cases surfacing every day and number of casualties on a daily basis in a transparent manner. It asked for starting life and health insurance of medical staff engaged in provision of healthcare services to patients round the clock, and the premium must be paid by the government. “The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) should be restored immediately,” it said.

The meeting demanded that the PML-N had set up labs to test hepatitis B & C in teaching hospitals, which must be equipped with corona PCR kits and bio-safety kits as it would help expedite the process of testing coronavirus cases. In DHQ hospitals, the replacement of bio-safety level-II kits would help utilize PCR machines.

The meeting said bio-technicians and bio-medical equipment operators and maintainers must be trained, which is of paramount importance to operate bio-medical equipment on a large scale in case of any emergency. “China may be requested to provide specialized training to doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and lab assistants,” said Shahbaz Sharif and added that in the first phase, it must produce master trainers who would then impart training to the staff in their respective categories in the second phase. He pointed to complaints of shortage of blood donations to thalassaemia patients fighting their battle for life.

On behalf of his party, Shahbaz wrote letters to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang and felicitated them on China’s successful war against the dreaded coronavirus. He thanked them for standing by Pakistan in this hour of trial.

Meanwhile, the PML-N Punjab, during its organisational meeting on Saturday, set up a Corona Fund which would immediately be activated with donations from the party leaders across the province. Shahbaz has already donated 10,000 kits. Jointly chaired by the PML-N Central General Secretary Ahsan Iqbal and Punjab President Rana Sanaullah through video-link, the meeting decided that the party’s central, provincial and district leadership would ensure provision of medical supplies in hospitals, besides providing ration to people at their doorsteps.