Zubair Qureshi
Covid-19 situation is worsening in Pakistan in general and the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi in particular. On Friday, the federal capital reported 100 confirmed cases of coronavirus and according to public health experts, in the coming days we shall see rise in number of patients on the same ratio. Rawalpindi is also receiving 50 patients daily.
While talking to Pakistan Observer a Public Health Expert who was in the twin cities to monitor and inspect the covid-19 situation and various labs in the public sector hospitals, said coroanvirsu despite the government’s efforts and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) is very much there.
It is alive, potential and kicking off and if we continue to violate SOPs as we are doing at the national level, it is feared by end of July, we can be reporting 150,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country, said the Public Health Specialist who was in the city to inspect viral impact and burden on hospitals and wished not to be named.
To a question, he said our health system is fragile and cannot cope with the alarming increase in number of new cases which are being reported on daily basis. On Friday, Pakistan reported 64,500 patients (2500 new cases in 24 hours) and 1,317 deaths (57 deaths in 24 hours) sending shudders down the spine of health experts and the authorities.
Whether the rising temperature will have any impact on virus, he said Coronavirus is not going to stop with increase in temperature.
Temperature above 47 degree will limit the viral growth but in our houses, buildings and covered areas, temperatures are usually below 35 so even the extreme hot weather is not going to benefit us.
We are unfortunately not paying attention to the government’s warnings and health precautions and making it easier for virus to attack us, he said adding as per assumption everyone in Pakistan will get this virus now or one year later. However, the later one gets the virus the better as there are strong indications that its vaccine will be developed and treatment going to be introduced in next two to three months.
About the condition of Biosafety Level laboratories (BSL) in Rawalpindi and Islamabad he said there are different types of labs and for corona testing BSL-3 lab is recommended which has negative pressure so that the environment for the staff working inside the labs is non-hazardous.
Primary and Secondary healthcare departments have developed BSL 3 lab in BBH hospital Rawalpindi that is dedicated for the testing of Coronavirus suspect patients, besides labs in National Institute Health (NIH) is already working under the umbrella of federal government.