Coronavirus cases rise to 16 in K-P

Doctors seek help from Chinese medical experts to fight disease

PESHAWAR: A new case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was confirmed from the Mansehra area of the province on Tuesday, taking the overall count from the province to 16 confirmed cases while there were another 65 suspected cases, officials said.

Meanwhile, the government said that it was supposed to receive around 225 pilgrims from Balochistan.

In a statement on the microblogging social network Twitter, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Health Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra on Tuesday said that another suspected COVID-19 patient had tested positive for the virus.

“In the spirit of continued transparency, I have received news of one new positive case of coronavirus in Mansehra district,” Jhagra tweeted, adding, “The gentleman came to the country from the United Kingdom.”

He added that even though the COVID-19 patient tested positive for the virus, he has not displayed any symptoms of the virus thus far. In this regard, the provincial health minister said that the patient has been quarantined at his home.

Tuesday’s case means that the total number of coronavirus patients who have tested positive in the province has increased to 16. On Monday, Jhagra had said that 15 patients, among a cohort of 19 who had arrived from Taftan, had tested positive for the virus.

Taftan is currently host to a quarantine camp for hundreds of pilgrims who have returned from Iran recently.

Suspected cases rise to 65

Meanwhile, the Adviser to the K-P Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Ajmal Wazir on Tuesday said that the number of suspected coronavirus cases across the province has risen to 65.

Of these, he said that 15 have already tested positive while results for 17 patients are awaited.  Another 33 people had tested negative for the virus.

Wazir said this while speaking to the media in the provincial capital. He said that a quarantine centre has been established at the Gomal Medical College in Dera Ismail Khan.

He added that as many as 225 pilgrims, who had been interned in Taftan, are expected to arrive in DI Khan late on Tuesday and that they will be sent to this quarantine centre.

The provincial information advisor urged the public not to panic and to disregard rumours.

Chief Minister Mahmood Khan is monitoring the unfolding events and all public institutions are working together to control the spread of the virus, he informed.

To a question, the information adviser clarified that a senior citizen, who had recently passed away at the Hayatabad Medical Complex, did not die of COVID-19.

“He had acute pneumonia and had recently returned from a gulf country and his test results for coronavirus were negative,” Wazir said.

“We have set up a 200-bed isolation ward in DI Khan Mufti Mehmood Hospital and a 120-bed quarantine centre at the Levies Centre in the Shahkas area of Khyber district,” he said while referring to the quarantine facilities set up by the government.

Oversight body

The provincial government on Tuesday set up a Strategic Oversight Committee to combat COVID-19.

A notification issued by the K-P Health Department said that the committee will be headed by Health Minister Jhagra, while the health department’s secretary, relief, rehabilitation and settlement department secretary, home and tribal affairs department secretary, local government and rural department Secretary, K-P chief minister’s secretary, brigadier–11 corps will be its members.

The committee will be responsible for providing strategic guidelines and directive for preparedness, prevention, control and response to the coronavirus outbreak, and take strategic decision to establish trigger points.

It will also implement decisions recording quarantine needs, recommending closure of the school, colleges, markets and such areas which may be considered as risk factors, recommending restrictions on travelling and any other strategic decision required or Based on free define trigger points.

Seeking Chinese help

To enhance early detection, quarantine and treatment facilities and to halt the spread of the coronavirus, a video conference with Chinese medical experts was arranged in the provincial capital on Tuesday.

Adviser to CM for Science and Information Technology and Science and Information Technology Ziaullah Bangash, Science and Technology Department Managing Director Dr Shahbaz Khan, and doctors from the Rehman Medical Institute (RMI) and other hospitals attended the meeting.

A statement issued from the hospital said that the conference was aimed at equipping health experts in the province with crucial, practical knowledge of managing the COVID-19 outbreak.

Recommendations from the interaction will be forwarded to the healthcare facilities and K-P government, the statement added.

Bangash said that the discussion with Chinese health expert was beneficial for the doctors in the province as the learnt how to manage the critical situation created by the coronavirus.

The team of Chinese health experts was led by Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital’s Head of Medical Imaging and Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Professor Dr Wu-Zhang Wang.

The Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital is one of the designated recipient hospitals of coronavirus patients in China.

Wang and his team of experts shared their experience of fighting the virus and said they will continue to share further developments with the K-P government. It was decided in the meeting that a delegation of Chinese health experts will visit K-P as soon as the conditions allow.

Local govt’s women staff leaves

The K-P Local Government Ministry has granted leave to all women officers until April 1. A notification issued in this regard said that all such staff have been relieved of their duties.

The notification said the decision has been taken in the light of the directives of the provincial government. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2020.