10 doctors die of coronavirus within five days in Pakistan
Six of the 10 doctors died in a single day on Nov.29 in Karachi, Lahore and Multan; active virus cases surpass 50,000: NCOC; indoor dining banned in Punjab and KP provinces
As the COVID-19 cases are soaring across the country, the second wave of the pandemic is taking a high toll on medical professionals, causing the death of 10 doctors within five days and forcing some 3,000 health workers into isolation across Pakistan, it emerged.
A list prepared by the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) shows that six of the 10 doctors died on a single day on Nov.29 in Karachi, Lahore and Multan.
The latest victim is Dr Muhammad Farooq, an additional director of the Khalifa Gul Nawaz Hospital, Bannu, KP province, who died of COVID-19.
The second wave of the pandemic starting from November has so far claimed the lives of 18 doctors in the country.
Meanwhile, Federal Parliamentary Secretary in the Health Ministry Nausheen Hamid said that the government will provide free of cost vaccine to its citizens and the vaccination will start in the second quarter of 2021.
The government has also decided to observe “COVID-19 standard operating procedures compliance week” from Saturday for creating awareness in public about the significance of the SOPS in guarding against the disease.
The number of active coronavirus cases has crossed the 50,000 mark, reaching yet another grim milestone as the second wave of COVID-19 infections surge across the country, according to the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) tally.
The country reported 3,499 new infections in the past 24 hours, raising the total tally to 406,810 as active cases climb to 51,654. The NCOC data shows the pandemic’s pace in Pakistan has quickened as the tally crossed 400,000 on Dec.1 with at least 29,881 new cases reported in the last 10 days only.
The highest number of coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours was reported in Sindh with 1,983 infections. Punjab came second with 727 new cases, Islamabad recorded 417, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 218, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 85, Balochistan 53, and Gilgit Baltistan 16.
With COVID-19 fatality rate reaching an alarming level of 2.5 per cent in Punjab, the bed occupancy has also risen to 1,169 in both public and private sector hospitals across the province.
Particularly, an increase has been witnessed in the admission of critical patients to the hospitals. The experts have observed that during the second spike of the coronavirus many of the patients were being brought to hospitals with low oxygen saturation within days of geting infected.
Official data shows that the number of COVID-19 critical patients on ventilators at the intensive care units (ICUS) of the public and private hospitals in Punjab has reached 158. Of them, 142 patients are on ventilator at the public sector hospitals.
As many as 469 serious patients were being treated in the hospitals’ high dependency units (HDUS) in the province. These patients were brought to the HDUS of the health facilities ater their oxygen saturation level dropped down to an alarming level.
The figures show that because of the rising number of critical patients, 21 per cent of the total allocated ventilators in the ICUS of the public and private hospitals notified for the COVID-19 patients have been occupied so far.
Presently, just 595 ventilators are available for
COVID-19 patients in the notified hospitals, which, according to experts, were insufficient given the rapidly increasing number of those being brought there in a critical condition.
They said the adult patients aged between 30-40 years were also developing multiple complications, particularly relating to the chest or having breathing issues a few days ater the onset of the infection.
The experts warned that the situation could get out of control in the weeks to come if additional arrangements were not made for the critical patients and the people continued to ignore preventive measures. Also on Thursday, the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) governments have imposed a ban on indoor dining in restaurants and hotels in view of the increasing positivity rate of COVID-19 during the second wave.
According to a notification issued by the Punjab government, indoor dining in restaurants, cafes, etc has been banned and only outdoor dining, with adequate spacing between tables, is allowed. The government has also allowed takeaway.