KARACHI:President Sindh Doctors Welfare Association (SDWA) Dr Mujtaba Memon has urged the authorities of Sindh health department to give special status to Baqai Hospital and Murshid Hospital to treat suspected Coronavirus patients.
Dr Memon who is also Senior Family Physician told PPI that Baqai Hospital is situated along Super Highway and Murshid Hospital inside the Hub River Road. As both hospitals are outside main city limits, they are considered ideal locations to deal with suspected coronavirus patients; thus these two health facilities should be given special status to treat viral disease patients.
He said the establishment of Isolation Wards or Quarantine Facilities in private and public sector hospitals can lead to further spread of coronavirus in the city as major hospitals of Karachi are located in densely populated areas like Saddar, MA Jinnah Road, and Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
He urged the Sindh government to shift all people who had recently arrived from Iran, China and other countries, to suburban hospitals like Murshid and Baqai ones.
He suggested to Sindh, Baluchistan and federal governments to establish makeshift arrangements near Iran border where people should be quarantined at least two weeks before allowing them to go home.
Dr Mujtaba Memon lauded the Sindh government for closing schools for two weeks and said this step had been taken at the right time to prevent people from coronavirus in Sindh.
He said all kinds of gatherings and events should be banned across the Sindh province until the situation comes under control.
He said Iran had restricted access to its holiest sites and canceled some Islamic festivals to counter the outbreak of Coronavirus in the country. He urged the federal and provincial governments to follow Iran’s policy in this regard.
He said DNA composition of coronavirus comprised Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Human Immunodeficiency Viruses (HIV) and Ebola Virus Disease.
He explained that corona-virus affects the brain, immune and respiratory system; therefore, consultants should follow the treatment module developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infection Diseases (NIAID) China.
Dr Memon demanded adoption of special preventive measures like Quarantining of the patients at the city’s entry points, regular fumigation in isolation wards, ban on all kinds of gatherings and following of the Chinese module treatment for the treatment of suspected patients to control the prevalence of the viral disease in Pakistan including Sindh.