KP hospitals flouting WHO protocols
The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed its concerns over the lack of enforcement of safety protocols in hospitals across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and urged the province’s health department to ensure regular disinfection and adherence to infection prevention and control (IPC) protocols to prevent a resurgence in infections. The WHO had provided ICP training to around 15,000 healthcare staff in various hospitals in the province, and assigned the Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar and the Said Group of Hospitals in Swat to ensure disinfection measures during the pandemic.
Govt mulls COVID-19 strategy for schools
In a meeting chaired by the Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar at the National Command and Operations Center on Wednesday, September 3, stated that the government is poised to test a new COVID-19 prevention and control strategy at educational institutions slated to reopen on September 15. To test the effectiveness of this strategy, students will be randomly screened while teachers will be periodically screened.
Umar stated that although plans have been finalized to open up educational institutions, the enforcement of SOPs and health guidelines across nearly 30,000 schools across the country was proving to be a challenge. The government will officially finalize plans for the reopening of schools on September 7.
10 succumb to the virus
Ten coronavirus case fatalities were reported across the country on Wednesday, September 6. Sindh constituted the highest number of casualties with lives deaths. Balochistan followed with two, its first virus-related deaths in the past 12 days, while Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir suffering a loss of life each. The Islamabad Capital Territory reported no new COVID-19 fatalities for the 16th day in a row.