K-P defends Covid-19 case reporting

Over 10,000 cases reported in the province so far

PESHAWAR: With 458 novel coronavirus (Covid-19) cases being reported on Monday, a top aide of the chief minister on Monday defended the provincial government’s policy on disclosure of cases.

Speaking to the media on Monday at the Civil Secretariat in Peshawar as part of his daily briefing, Adviser to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister on Information Ajmal Wazir said that the provincial government follows the guidelines provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on reporting positive cases and deaths.

“Complete statistics are being shared with the public with transparency so that the public can see the real picture,” Wazir said.

With the total number of Covid-19 cases soaring past 10,485 mark on Monday along with 482 associated deaths - including nine on Monday - Wazir insisted that their patient recovery rate was the highest in the country at 31 per cent. Of those infected so far, figures released by the K-P health department on Monday evening showed that another 61 patients had recovered while a total of 2,973 patients in the province have recovered so far.

The adviser said in the two months before the lockdown, over 81,000 people from various Gulf countries had arrived at the Bacha Khan International Airport.

Similarly, migrants and pilgrims returned to the country through the Taftan and Torkham borders, who were kept in various quarantine centres in the province.

“Overseas Pakistanis are our asset and they will not be left alone in this hour of need, a solution to all their problems is amongst the priorities of the government,” he said.

Wazir said that immediately after the Covid-19 outbreak, the provincial government started ramping up its testing capacity from 20 to around 2,300 and that this number will be further increased.

Wazir reiterated that there is no shortage of ventilators and beds in the hospitals of the province. He appealed to the public to follow the Covid-19 standard operating procedures as this was the only way to curb the spread of the virus.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2020.