Epidemic control: Preventive measures ordered against coronavirus

Health Services Director General Zahid Pervaiz told the meeting no case of coronovirus had been reported in Punjab.

LAHORE:

Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique directed the Health Department on Saturday to adopt preventive measures against coronavirus, reported in the Middle East. Presiding over a meeting of health experts, he asked the department to screen passengers coming from Saudi Arabia at airports.

Rafique stressed the need for guidelines to those going for haj or umrah. He said pilgrims should be educated about the virus. He also formed two teams of health experts to prepare recommendations for the treatment of people suffering from the virus.

Health Services Director General Zahid Pervaiz told the meeting no case of coronovirus had been reported in the Punjab.

He said health officials and hospitals across the province had been ordered to adopt preventive measures. He said the virus was found in animals in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries. He said cough and flue were the early symptoms of the disease also called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome that also affected animals, particularly camels, sheep and goats.

Health Parliamentary Secretary Khwaja Imran Nazir and Health Additional Secretary Salman Shahid attended the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2014.