Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Pakistan Medical Association’s Lahore chapter president Prof Ashraf Nizami has expressed concern over the upcoming situation, saying that the number of coronavirus patients may reach up to four million while the death toll may rise to 80,000.
Prof Saeed Khan of Dow University of Health Sciences also showed similar concerns and said the number of positive patients and deaths might multiply four to five times in the coming days. Meanwhile, Pakistan has confirmed 60 deaths in a single day by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 190,839. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 3,806 on Wednesday.
The nationwide tally of Covid-19 patients touched 190,839 with 69,536 cases in Punjab, 74,070 in Sindh, 23,887 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 9,634 in Balochistan, 1,337 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 11,483 in Islamabad and 892 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center, 3,892 persons have been tested positive for Covid-19 in 24 hours.
The management of a private hospital in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said the virus was rapidly growing in the province and only 22% of people could be tested, adding that if the government and private laboratories would conduct tests then the numbers might surge. Prof Mukhtar Zaman, a physician from a private hospital in KP, said if 100,000 tests are conducted daily, the positive cases may rise to 50,000 in the province.Doctors’ Pioneer Unity’s Multan president Dr Shahid Rao said one patient can infect more than 10 people. He said the number of patients might be too high if actual data is available. Researchers have claimed there is no record of a large number of Covid-19 patients available.
The novel coronavirus claimed the lives of two more surgeons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, raising the total number of deceased doctors to nine in the province. Dr Fazal Mabood, an ENT surgeon of District Headquarters Hospital Swabi, and eye surgeon Dr Hayat Ali from Parachinar lost their battle against Covid-19. Both have been buried at their respective ancestral graveyards.