KARACHI: Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) offered provision of technical assistance to Indian government to counter Coronavirus emergency situation in neighboring country if federal government allowed.
This offered was made President PMA Centre (Telephonic link), Dr Salma Aslam Kundi and Secretary General PMA Centre Dr S M Qaisar Sajjad during a press conference at PMA House. Treasurer, PMA Centre, Dr Qazi Muhammad Wasiq and General Secretary PMA Karachi Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro were also spoke.
They said PMA is holding this press conference to talk about the rapid increase of Corona cases in the country. “We have been requesting government and public for the last three weeks to play their role to control Corona cases in Pakistan. We warned that Corona cases could increase during the holy month of Ramadan if SOPs are not implemented and followed. Unfortunately we remained careless and the cases have amplified. We fear that if we do not take the appropriate measures, the number of cases and deaths could increase and pleasures of upcoming Eid could turn pale.”
The PMA is very much concerned over the speedy surge of Covid-19 patients and terrible increase in number of deaths. It is also very disturbing that patients are getting serious and ventilators at hospitals are filling speedily particularly in Punjab. If we do not control over the situation we may run short of beds for oxygen and ventilators, they said.
According to the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) at present there are approximately 90.000 active cases in the country. 570 patients are on ventilators. There are 634 Corona Designated Hospitals in the country and 5810 patients, at present, are admitted in these hospitals.
According to NCOC, till today confirmed cases have reached to 800,452 and death toll has reached to 17,187. During last 24 hours 4825 cases have been reported positive and 70 deaths were reported, just a day back 118 deaths were reported and two days back record 157 deaths were reported since the outbreak of pandemic in the country. These numbers show that Covid situation in the country is getting serious.
Dr Qaisar recalled that the government relaxed most of the restrictions on commercial activities, schools, offices and other workplaces, allowing them to function at full strength on 24 February 2021. PMA opposed this decision, we declared it hasty decision. He said: “We were of the opinion that the government should have given priority to public health rather than financial concerns and advised the authorities to lift the restrictions step wise only when the number of cases goes on declining. Just Few days after the hasty decision the cases begin to rose and till than we have been facing the third Wave. This all happened due to negligence in adopting preventive measures for coronavirus.”
He said Corona situation in the country is very alarming. It deteriorated in Punjab, KPK, Baluchistan and in Islamabad. Covid-19 positivity ratio is rapidly increasing in major cities of the country. The overall positivity ratio of Pakistan is 11, which is alarming. To overcome the situation government should take immediate preventive measures before it gets late. SOPs should be implemented strictly to save lives of people and to avoid India like situation. There should be no hesitation in imposing curfew if needed to save the lives of the people.
Dr Qaisar said now, the deadly virus is rapidly spreading in Sindh also particularly in Karachi and Hyderabad. The situation could worsen in these two cities if government fails to implement SOPs strictly. Passengers coming from other provinces in Sindh should be strictly monitor through scanning process at the entry points. Same as people coming from abroad should also be examined for Covid-19 to avoid its spread. We appreciate the Sindh Government for banning the intercity transport.
President PMA Centre Dr Salma Aslam Kundi urged people to adopt preventive measures for the sake of their families and the whole society. Wear mask whenever you go out because MASK is a vaccine against Civid-19, keep social distance, wash or sanitize your hands with proper intervals. It has been observed that people gather at restaurants at Sehri and Ifftar without adopting Sops. The government should also make sure to implement Sops strictly. Moreover by preventing Covid-19 we will be able to keep on moving our trade and business otherwise government will be compelled to lockdown the country.
She said vaccine is the most protective shield against Covid-19, PMA advises people to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Do not listen or pay attention to misunderstandings and myths related to Covid-19 vaccines. It is not harmful in any way. The people who do not get them vaccinated could face the intricacy of the disease.
PMA advised the government also to increase the vaccination facilities to vaccinate more people in shorter time. At least 70 -75% of population of Pakistan should be vaccinated as early as possible. PMA feels that our vaccination process is very slow; the process of registration through 1166 is a perplexing so we suggest that availability of Computerized National Identity Card should be made mandatory, people be registered and vaccinated on the spot under a walk-in facility at the vaccination centers. The age limit on vaccination should be removed. If the vaccination process is not expedited it might take years to achieve the goals of vaccination campaign and we could face the Polio like situation. We also request you to put an end to age limit for speedy vaccination.