Contradictory Reports
91 percent of the deaths due to Covid-19 occurred at hospitals, only 9 percent died at home: Ministry of National Health Services.
Feedback from Punjab, Balochistan, KP and Islamabad shows that the patients inflow has decreased says Planning Minister, Asad Umar.
First Child Dies
11 year old Maryam succumbed to COVID-19 at Children’s Hospital Lahore on Monday. After testing positive, she was moved to Lahore from Okara.
She was also suffering from chronic liver disease and had also undergone a liver surgery. 8 minors with COVID-19 are being treated while 37 have recovered.
Unpaid Labour
Hundreds of nurses hired by Sindh govt. in March due to overburdening of hospitals still have not been paid the promised Rs60,000 per month.
Meanwhile Sindh govt. has also announced to recruit another 2,200 doctors as a larger number of health workers have been infected by Covid-19.
Remdesivir Treatment
US biotech group, Gilead Sciences will charge governments $2,340 for a course of remdesivir, a drug used to shorten recovery times in Covid-19 patients.
The company will charge $390 per dosage to governments while $520 to private buyers making the total cost of 6 vials in a five days course to $3,120.
Independent Testing
WHO has accredited Pakistan’s first independent drug testing laboratory located in Islamabad with equipment imported from Japan & Germany and software from US.
Laboratory in Islamabad is said to be operating at an acceptable level of compliance with its Good Practices for Pharmaceutical Quality Control Laboratories.