COVID-19 scare keeping both patients and doctors away from hospitals: CM Sindh

Sindh’s chief minister said on Sunday that due to the stigma attached to COVID-19, not only patients but many doctors and health care providers are scared of going to hospitals and other such facilities.

“If this situation continues, mortalities due to non-communicable diseases among the sick and the elderly can also rise in the province,” Syed Murad Ali Shah told a small group of journalists at the CM House.

Shah said they are planning to open small clinics throughout Karachi in the next few weeks to facilitate patients, but standard operating procedures will need to be prepared and adopted for the safety of both patients and health care providers.

Regarding the rules about the burial of COVID-19 patients, whereby only a couple of family members are allowed to attend the funeral and interment, the CM said they may be reviewed. He said that fearing they might not get a proper burial while their family members also suffer, people do not approach the health facilities to seek medical attention.

Commenting on the spread of COVID-19 in the city, Shah said the situation in Lyari, where the virus is spreading rapidly, is alarming. If this trend continues, entire Lyari may have to be sealed off to prevent the coronavirus from spreading to other parts of the city, he added.

“It can be easier to feed the people in a small area instead of the entire city,” said the CM, adding that they will also start mass screening in the high-risk areas of the East and South districts where most cases are being reported.

Regarding prayers at mosques, he said the people and Ulema should ensure physical distancing as agreed in the meeting with the government, warning that if the conditions on which prayers are allowed are not obeyed, the administration will be forced to seek the course of enforcement.

Shah agreed that there is an urgent need to create awareness among the people about COVID-19, its implications for them and the preventive measures, adding that the media should help create awareness about the disease and how people can stay safe from it.

Conceding that they may have made some mistakes while trying to contain the spread of the virus in the province, he said that it is quite a new situation.

He said that with each passing day they are learning something new, adding that most of the decisions of the provincial government are taken after consultation with health experts. Replying to different questions, the chief executive said they are not in favour of easing off the current lockdown but have been forced to take some undesired decisions in view of the people’s sufferings.

During the meeting with the journalists, Shah was accompanied by Sindh Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah, and CM’s adviser and provincial government spokesman Barrister Murtaza Wahab.