Ready for an outbreak: K-P confirms first coronavirus cases

Health minister says 15 confirmed cases are amongst individuals from Balochistan’s Taftan area

PESHAWAR: The provincial government on Monday said at least 15 individuals have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the province. These are the first confirmed cases of the virus in the province, the top health official confirmed.

In a statement on the microblogging social network Twitter on Monday evening, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra said that 15 of the 19 individuals who arrived in the province from Balochistan’s Taftan area, had tested positive for the coronavirus.

“These are the first positive cases in K-P,” Jhagra wrote, adding, “They (confirmed and suspected patients) are being well looked after in quarantine in an isolated facility in Dera Ismail Khan.”

Taftan is the area where a mobile tent city had been set up by the government to house some 4,000 pilgrims returning from neighbouring Iran.

Earlier, while dispelling rumours about other coronavirus cases in the province, Jhagra in a separate tweet said that the death of a suspected coronavirus patient at the Hayatabad Medical Complex in the provincial capital was not linked to the virus.

“He (suspected coronavirus patient) was dealt with as per protocols,” he said, before following up in a separate tweet that, “the gentleman tested negative.”

K-P to counter COVID-19

Earlier, Jhagra chaired a high-level meeting to decide on measures to counter the threat from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the province.

The meeting decided to set up a 150-bed quarantine facility at the Shahkas Levies Centre in the Khyber tribal district whilst the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and district administrations have been directed to shift all suspected COVID-19 patients at the Torkham Border to the centre.

It was further decided that all teaching and administrative staff of educational institutions will stay at home, except for the staff at medical colleges such as the Khyber Medical University (KMU), which are required for clinical, pathological and radiological purposes and patient care.

The meeting also decided that all government employees who are 50-years-of-age or older, or those who are afflicted with serious ailments such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes etc will be granted leave for the next 15 days. Female employees will also be granted
15-day leave.

The meeting further decided that the processes for all recruitment tests and interviews, except for essential services and first responders, will be deferred until further notice.

It was agreed that the provincial Establishment Department will issue instructions to all provincial government employees to ensure that protocols of social distancing are maintained and that these measures are effectively communicated to the people around them.

Further, employees were urged to avoid all such gatherings in their private lives where there is a risk of close social contact.

After chairing a high-level meeting comprising national and provincial assembly lawmakers from K-P, the health minister had shared video messages of various lawmakers from the K-P Assembly. “Everyone has a message for all of us on the coronavirus pandemic. This is not an issue between government and opposition. We are all in this together,” he said.

The video messages posted included those from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA from Karak Shahid Khattak, MPA Arbab Waseem Hayat, MNA Sher Ali Arbab, K-P Assembly Deputy Speaker Mahmood Jan, MPA Faheem Ahmad, Wajidullah Khan, Fazal Elahi, Salahuddin Mohmand, K-P Advisor on Local Government Kamran Bangash, MNA Arbab Ali, and Awami National Party MPA Samar Haroon Bilour in separate video messages on Twitter urged people to follow instructions for prevention and support government in the fight against COVID-19.

Ulema urged to spread awareness

Meanwhile, Adviser to Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Ajmal Wazir urged the ulema, political, social leaders and media of the province to help the government create awareness amongst the public to fight the threat of the coronavirus and help stop the pandemic.

In a statement, Wazir said that awareness amongst the public was crucial to fight the pandemic.

He urged social leaders, religious scholars, political and public figures to issue public service and safety messages regarding COVID-19, advising the public to adopt precautionary measures while interacting with each other.

CM commutes prison terms

K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Monday announced that sentences of some prisoners were being reduced on humanitarian grounds in wake of concerns over the coronavirus.

In a statement on Monday, Mahmood directed to reduce the prison sentence of convicts by two months, saying that the coronavirus has become an epidemic and that the K-P government will provide relief to prisoners along with the people.

The chief minister said that the reduction in sentences will see the release of many prisoners.

However, he said that this directive will not apply to prisoners convicted in terror cases.

Earlier, CM Mahmood spoke to a suspected coronavirus patient currently at the quarantine centre in Dera Ismail Khan via a video call. He said that the government is committed to defeating this disease.

The government and people are jointly struggling to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the province, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2020.