Prisoner Contracts COVID-19
2,800 prisoners of District Jail Lahore to be evacuated to different jails in Hafizabad and Lodhran after an inmate tested positive for the novel-coronavirus disease. The infected inmate, who had recently returned from hard-struck Italy and was booked for smuggling drugs, has been shifted to Mayo Hospital for treatment. The remaining inmates are being tested for the contagion, however, results are still pending.
Authorities are converting the District Jail Lahore into a quarantine center for prisoners all across Punjab. The proposed quarantine center will be equipped with the necessary facilities and will have 100 beds.
Health Worker Succumbs to Virus
Malik Ashdar, a 55-year-old nurse of the Gilgit-Baltistan health department lost his life to the novel-coronavirus disease after contracting it from COVID-19 positive patients he had been treating in Nagar. Ashdar is the second health worker to lose his life, following the demise of Dr. Usman Riaz, due to prolonged exposure to the virus owing to lack of personal protective equipment (PPEs) and lacking treatment facilities. Health workers, doctors, and residents in Gilgit-Baltistan have repeatedly appealed to the government to address the severe shortage of PPEs, testing kits, and other medical equipment but to very little avail.
Another Doctor Tests Positive
A second doctor of the Islamabad Polyclinic Hospital doctor tested positive for COVID-19, two days after a colleague also tested positive. Both physicians were roommates in one of the hospital’s hostels for resident physicians. Remaining doctors and nurses who resided in the building have been shifted to a quarantine center set up at the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) while the hostel itself has been sealed for disinfection.