PHOTO: AFP

PML-N sets up ‘virus fund’ for underprivileged

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz would supply medical kits wherever needed in the country


​ Our Correspondent March 29, 2020
LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has created a coronavirus fund to ensure financial assistance to the underprivileged segment of the society during the lockdown period in Punjab.

This was conveyed to party office holders and PML-N lawmakers in Punjab Assembly during a party meeting jointly presided over by PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah and General Secretary Ahsan Iqbal.

Expressing concern over the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the province, Iqbal said the country had reached such a point due to the “failure of the government to respond in time”. It was decided that PML-N would supply medical kits wherever needed in the country.

Sanaullah directed the party office holders to distribute ration to the needy in their areas. “During the period of lockdown, party workers will ensure door to door supply of ration,” he said.

During the session, it was agreed to complete party’s reorganisation on provincial and district level to effectively run the coronavirus campaign in Punjab. Meanwhile, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif has demanded that patients suffering from coronavirus must be immediately removed from the mainstream hospitals and marriage halls, schools, colleges and mosques should instead be used as quarantine units.

Shehbaz made these remarks after chairing a consultative meeting with doctors, medical experts and medical staff. “Coronavirus tests should be conducted free of cost and those who have come from across the border should be immediately mapped,” he said.

“There is a need for a Disease Surveillance System, which is currently non-existent. Data of how many people have been tested should be shared with the nation on a daily basis. Hiding the facts and figures is not a solution but part of the problem,” he added.

Shehbaz called for formulating a plan and seeking help from China for training the doctors and medical staff in caretaking, conducting tests and use of technology for treating the virus patients. “Even if all the needed equipment is provided, such incapacity will prevent the optimum performance due to lack of proper training,” he noted.

He stressed that patients of coronavirus should not be treated as untouchables but be handled with care and compassion.

He expressed his concern over the rapid devaluation of the rupee, saying that the government had completely “failed” to handle the economy.

He said it would further increase the financial burden on the people who were already facing crisis due to the coronavirus outbreak. The PML-N president also wrote letters to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang congratulating them on winning the war against the coronavirus and thanked them for their resolute support to Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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