Balochistan govt establishes control room to monitor COVID-19

Deputy commissioners to coordinate with health departments across border towns

QUETTA: Government of Balochistan Spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani announced on Monday that the provincial government has established a control room in Quetta in order to monitor situation of coronavirus in the province and across the bordering areas.

He was speaking at a press conference held in the provincial capital.

He said, “The control room is established in Civil Secretariat Quetta where deputy commissioners across Balochistan would remain in contact with health departments at Pak-Iran and Pak-Afghan border in order to monitor the situation closely.”

The spokesperson gave further details of the preventive measures in Lasbela where a quarantine was established because the district was close to Sindh where five cases of coronavirus have been reported till filing of the report.

Talking about details of the centre established at Sheikh Zayed Hospital Quetta, Shahwani said that the pilgrims returning from Iran would be screened out at the hospital. Besides, a Reference Lab has been established in Fatima Jinnah Hospital Quetta where suspected cases were being tested.

Briefing on the screening of suspected cases in the province, Shahwani said, “Provincial Health Department has completed screening of 76,587 people who returned from Iran at Taftan border. Amongst them 3,412 people are kept in quarantine established at Pak-Iran border in Pakistan House.”

Shahwani added that 15 suspected cases of the deadly virus have been sent to the Reference Lab for testing out of which 15 were reported negative.

Reporting the facts, the provincial government spokesperson asserted that no case of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has so far been reported in Balochistan.

The government spokesperson also briefed about training of health officials in order to spread awareness on how to prevent coronavirus.

“1,157 health staff have been trained for mass awareness in order to prevent the deadly disease,” Shahwani said.

Amid fears of spreading the virus globally, the spokesperson called out unity and media support in order to fight the deadly disease.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2020.