Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) Chairman Abrar ul Haq on Thursday announced to set up a 150-bed hospital in Rawalpindi in a short period of 10 days only to help cope with coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Addressing a crowded press conference here at PRCS National Headquarters along with Punjab Governor Ch Sarwar and Minister for Energy Dr Akhtar Malik, Abrar ul Haq said a building in Rawalpindi, which currently houses a Panah Gah set up by the Punjab government, is being converted into a state-of-the-art hospital for treatment of coronavirus patients. “We will complete all necessary work in just 10 days, like China did in Wuhan following the coronavirus outbreak,” he resolved, adding that coronavirus diagnostic kits are being imported from China besides 500,000 facial masks which will be distributed among the citizens. He said PRCS will conduct two coronavirus tests at nominal charges of Rs 500 and Rs 3,500, adding that tests of deserving patients will be conducted absolutely free of cost. To a question, he said the PRCS has very limited financial resources, however he didn’t reveal how the huge costs for the hospital as well as the diagnostic kits and facial masks will be met.
Regarding steps taken by the PRCS to tackle the coronavirus challenge do far, he said qualified screening teams and ambulances have been deployed at Chaman border to support Balochistan government, and that so far 25,000 people have been screened for coronavirus. He said an isolation ward has been set up at PRCS health facility in Gwadar, while 10 ambulances along with first-aiders have been deployed at Islamabad, Lahore and Quetta airports as well as the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad for transportation of suspected cases. He said the PRCS has provided a water filtration plant for government-run quarantine facility in Gadap Town, Karachi, besides logistic support for quarantine facility in Kohat.
Abrar ul Haq said the PRCS has distributed informatory broachers with key messages on coronavirus preventive measures, and also launched a massive campaign on mainstream and social media to raise awareness among general public about the disease. However, none of the informatory material was displayed at the venue of the press conference nor distributed among the participants.
Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Governor Ch Sarwar said that political and national unity is needed to defeat the monster of coronavirus which has now turned into a global challenge. He said all political parties and religious groups should shun their petty differences and get united on a single agenda of saving the nation and the country from coronavirus. He said government alone cannot fight this challenge and that every segment of the society will have to play his part to win this battle. “This is a unique type of battle which we have to fight by staying at home … we need to adopt social-distancing in order to contain the spread of coronavirus,” he said.
The governor said Pakistan needs to learn a lesson from China, which has successfully fought this war through drastic measures, which at times would not appear easy for the people to go along. “Don’t worry … this government will not leave you alone at this testing time,” he said, while addressing the people of the country.
