Covid-19: Federal govt to provide 1,000 oxygenated beds to provinces in June

Asad Umar says more beds would be provided to hospitals across the country in July

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Monday said the federal government would provide 1,000 oxygenated beds to the provinces during the month of June to cope with the fast-emerging rush in large city hospitals due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Talking to media persons at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) after chairing a meeting to review Covid-19 situation, he said more beds would be provided to the hospitals across the country in July.

Umar said the federal government would also provide required help to the provinces.

He said provinces were provided 250 ventilators and additional beds last week. A comprehensive incentive package would also be finalised soon for healthcare workers, he added.



Providing further details, a statement issued later in the day by the NCOC said that the Centre will ensure fast track approval for enhancing healthcare capacity, particularly the critical healthcare.

"In context with Covid-19, Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) constructed Isolation Hospital and Infectious Treatment Centre (IHITC) in Islamabad on behalf of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and National Institute of Health (NIH) on a turnkey basis," it added.

The NCOC further said that "the 250 bedded prefabricated state of the art hospitals would be used to treat not only coronavirus infected patients under the best available equipment and medication but also be available for the treatment of other infectious diseases".

Construction work on the project has been completed within 35 days, it added.



As many as 250 ventilators were provided to the hospitals throughout the country last week to overcome challenges arising out of Covid-19 pandemic.

72 vents were provided to Punjab which would be distributed among hospitals in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Faisalabad.

Sindh was given 52 new ventilators that would be used for patients in Karachi and Sukkur.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was also provided 52 ventilators which would be used in hospitals in Peshawar and Abbottabad, according to the NCOC statement.

Balochistan was handed over 20 vents which would be used in Quetta. G-B and AJk were given 10 new vents.

NCOC statement said that 10 vents each were handed over to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and Poly Clinic Hospital in Islamabad.