Top health officials warn pharmacies against increasing facemask prices

Punjab govt to build coronavirus isolation wards at incomplete RIUKT

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD: With two more cases of the novel coronavirus confirmed in the country on Saturday, the top health official in the country on Saturday warned pharmacies and chemists against hoarding facemask and artificially inflating prices.

Speaking to the media on Saturday, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza directed the federal health ministry to take serious notice of an increase in prices of facemasks in different cities and to crack down on those involved in black marketing the masks.

“There had been a tremendous spike in the demand for face masks in the initial days owing to the panic and fear spread amongst the people,” Dr Mirza said.

Assuring that masks and medication will be made accessible to the public, he said that the country will not face any shortage of equipment as the government is taking all possible measures to ensure supply on an emergency basis.

Our supply team has been diligently attempting to source and procure new stock with our suppliers who are supporting us as quickly as they can, he added.

“The federal government and all the provinces are together. We are ready to deal with this epidemic”, he added.

RIUKT isolation wards

The Punjab government has decided to shift the isolation ward at one the largest tertiary care hospitals in Rawalpindi to an under-construction medical facility.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Saturday issued directions to convert three floors of the incomplete Rawalpindi Institute of Urology and Kidney Transplant (RIUKT) into isolation wards for novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patients in the district within 48 hours.

Buzdar has directed that an isolation ward for suspected patients will be created on the ground floor of the institute along with filter clinics. The first floor will house the high dependency unit (HDU) and a ward for patients who test positive for the virus. Another isolation ward will be set up on the third floor of the institute.

Once these special wards in RIUKT are functional, all suspected coronavirus patients currently receiving treatment at the Benazir Bhutto General Hospital (BBH) will be shifted to these wards. The isolation ward, filter clinic and the HDU at the BBH will also be dismantled.

Sources said that the isolation wards to be set up at RIUKT will have initially have 50 beds to accommodate suspected coronavirus patients. Moreover, 20 ventilators will also be available among other critical equipment at the HDU.

If need be, the size of the isolation ward can be expanded by another 50 beds.

Moreover, two generators have been sent to the RIUKT building while an elevator at the under-construction institute has been made operational. The issue of water supply to the facility has also been resolved, sources said.

The foundation for RIUKT had been laid by former Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in 2012. Even though Sharif was re-elected as the chief minister for another five-year term from 2013-2018, his government could not complete work on this project. The incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government too has struggled to complete the project over the past 18 months.

‘Govt to beat virus’

Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chauhan on Saturday reviewed the isolation wards set up at BBH. Addressing a news conference afterwards, he said that the way the government and the armed forces managed to defeat the terrorists, they will beat the threat of the novel coronavirus.

Chauhan disclosed that Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has set up a monitoring unit and a special committee of the provincial cabinet to curb the spread of the virus. Moreover, he said that the provincial government has allocated Rs226 million in emergency funds to tackle the virus.

The provincial information minister conceded that so far, some 35 suspected cases of the virus have been reported in the province but all of them have tested negative.

He added that his party leadership and the government are taking all precautionary and emergency measures to curb the spread of the virus.

Talking about the massive outbreak of the dengue virus last year and the government’s failure to control it — with Rawalpindi amongst the worst-hit areas in the country, Chauhan conceded that they did not know much about the virus then and hence struggled to combat it.

However, he promised that they will take comprehensive measures this year to prevent another outbreak.

In response to a question, he said that the media is free and there are no restrictions on free expression. However, he insisted that there is a need to put curbs and formulate rules for usage of social media but it will not be restricted.

New scanners

To better detect and diagnose coronavirus infections, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Saturday installed a modern thermal scanner at the Islamabad International Airport (IIA).

The scanner is capable of automatically detecting flu and fever amongst passengers with a high degree of accuracy within a short time. These scanners have been installed in the international arrival lounge of the airport.

The installation of a thermal scanner comes after the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) last month announced to import three thermal scanners aimed at tackling coronavirus airports.

“The imported scanners will be made available at the airports in Karachi, Islamabad, and Lahore,” he said. Meanwhile, the CAA has directed to take strict safety measures at all airports of the country.

The CAA has also made submission of health declaration form mandatory for flight attendants and all cabin crew of private pr national airlines.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM AGENCIES 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2020.