Doctors in Rawalpindi have demanded that the government should shut down the OPDs across the city after 188 health workers tested positive for COVID-19.
“OPDs must be closed [during the coronavirus outbreak] since we can get in touch with patients via telemedicine service. People should only head to hospitals if they are in a critical state,” a doctor employed at a government hospital told.
He explained that medical facilities are so scarce at government hospitals that paramedics who contract virus have to isolate themselves at their homes. Rawalpindi Commissioner Muhammad Mehmood is aware of the doctors’ reservations but doesn’t see closure of OPDs as a solution. What will happen to patients if we close all OPDs? A better option is to form a separate unit for coronavirus patients just like we did at Rawalpindi Institute of Urology.”—INP
