Death toll from virus is climbing: Shahwani

Says 33 patients have died in past two days in Balochistan

QUETTA: Balochistan government spokesman Liaquat Shahwani on Saturday observed that the number of deaths from Covid-19 were increasing as 1,600 new cases had been reported in the province in the last two weeks.

“More than 4,000 coronavirus cases have come to light in the province [until now], while 74% of them have been reported in the month of May,” he said while addressing a news conference in Quetta.

The spokesperson noted that 33 suspected patients of the respiratory illness died in the past two days, while 492 deaths had been reported in Balochistan in May.

He said that 26 coronavirus patients in Balochistan were currently in critical condition.

“The recovery rate of Covid-19 patients has risen to 36%. Out of the total patients, 6.5% are children, while the highest 40% are young people,” he said.

Shahwani stated that the provincial government was buying 75 ventilators and that the testing capacity in Balochistan had reached 1,200 per day.

He hailed the implementation of SOPs in the markets after Eidul Fitr and added that steps were being taken for doctors, paramedics and government employees who were affected in the war against Covid-19.

"Martyrs' package will be given to the families of the government employees, doctors and paramedics who died on duty fighting coronavirus and they will be given bonus from March 1," he said.

“The imposition of severe lockdown will increase economic problems,” he added.

The spokesperson declared that the Balochistan government had released Rs6 billion from its own resources to provide relief to the people who had lost their jobs, especially daily wage workers, due to Covid-19.

 

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