NDMA chief says no shortage of ventilators

ISLAMABAD — National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt-Gen Mohammed Afzal on Tuesday said that there was no dearth of ventilators in the country as around 4,200 ventilators were available in public and private sector hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients.

Addressing a Press conference here, the NDMA chairman said orders had already been placed for procurement of additional 1,310 ventilators.

He said trained staff was required to operate ventilators and agreements regarding training of staff, their installation and maintenance were also being ensured with companies from whom ventilators were being imported.

He said the United States has also offered to donate 200 ventilators to Pakistan and half of them would reach the country soon.

Out of these 100 ventilators, 30 each would be sent to Peshawar and Karachi, 15 to Balochistan, 10 to Faisalabad and 15 to Lahore.

He said it was expected that 2,000 more ventilators would be required by June if the situation aggravated for which a contingency plan had already been prepared.

Meanwhile, the countrywide tally of Covid-19 cases stood at 58,457 with 20,654 cases in Punjab, 23,507 in Sindh, 8,259 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 3,468 in Balochistan, 630 in Gilgit Baltistan, 1,728 in Islamabad and 211 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. —