In the light of the Supreme Court orders, the government on Wednesday decided to resume the normal services at hospitals and open the dispensaries in Islamabad.
The OPD (outdoor patients department) and other services at the hospitals, including the Polyclinic, would be opened gradually. Similarly, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government followed the apex court’s directives about reopening the OPDs at all hospitals due to the problems faced by the people. However, social distancing would be ensured at the health facilities. Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed earlier this week had observed that all the hospitals and clinics should remain functional. Criticising the decision to shut the hospitals and their OPDs as well as dispensaries in Islamabad for other patients to focus on those infected by coronavirus, the chief justice said nothing had been done practically as only meeting, meeting was being played. “Protecting the people’s rights is our responsibility,” he added What kind of medical emergency has been imposed when even the private hospitals and clinics are shut, he remarked. The chief justice had passed these remarks while heading a five-member bench which was hearing a petition against the high courts’ orders to release the prisoners. Meanwhile, the treatment services at the teaching hospitals in Punjab are facing a severe crisis due to the negligence of the Specialised Healthcare Department which shut the normal operations amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to 24NewsHD, the hepatitis, TB and diabetes clinics have been shut because of which the patients are left clueless.
