Sindh Recoveries On The Rise
With 764 recoveries recorded on June 4, a total of 16,782 COVID-19 patients in Sindh have managed to recover so far while 575 lost their lives. 16,179 cases are yet still active – per these numbers, over half of the total infections recorded in Sindh have recovered.
Healthcare Workers Threaten Protest
After weeks of protests, the Grand Health Alliance (GHA) in Sindh has posed an ultimatum to the Sindh government to facilitate its demands by June 8 under threat of a complete boycott of the outpatient department and surgery duties on June 11. Under its charter of demands, the GHA has called for provisions of personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies, separate isolation facilities for doctors and nurses who have contracted COVID-19, and monetary compensation for the families of those healthcare workers who succumbed to the virus.
Faisalabad Hospital Short Of Ventilators
A non-coronavirus patient, a 45-year-old Amir, passed away in Faisalabad’s Allied Hospital due to the non-availability of a ventilator, relatives claim. Although local administrators claim hospitals are sufficiently equipped, relatives of patients allege proper treatment is not being dispensed due to a shortage of ventilators. Amir’s relatives stated that he had been misdiagnosed with COVID-19 despite not displaying symptoms, however, his condition was dire and required a ventilator. However, Amir passed away before a ventilator finally became available at the hospital – his test results post-mortem revealed he did not have the virus.
Due to an influx of COVID-19 patients, Allied Hospital’s scant stock of ventilators is insufficient to tend to critical cases.
Shops Sealed For Violations
Islamabad administration seal two commercial hubs, twenty-two manufacturing units, and over a hundred shops for flagrant violations of SOPs. According to local administrative authorities, people were not wearing masks or gloves and failed to observe a 3 feet distance from each other. Meanwhile, 107 shops in various commercial centers in Lahore were sealed under warning by the district administration for flouting SOPs. Fines and stricter punishments may ensue if traders and shoppers continue to flout SOPs.
Punjab Body To Contest No-Quarantine Policy
The Punjab Cabinet Committee on Coronavirus Threat Response has resolved to contest the federal government’s decision to not quarantine repatriated citizens for 2 days upon arrival and send them home immediately after a quick medical checkup and swab sampling. According to data received by the committee, 20-25% of returning Pakistanis tend to test positive. Terming the federal government’s decision a threat to the health and safety of Pakistanis, the committee has instead suggested a fining Rs. 500 to 5,000 for SOP violations.
Families Denied A Proper Burial
Families of two suspected COVID-19 patients decried being barred from carrying out the funeral rites of the deceased patients – authorities hastily performed the burials themselves under SOPs, without waiting for the reports that were received by the aggrieved families a few hours later that affirmed the deceased were not coronavirus-positive.
