MUZAFFARABAD
The AJK President Sardar Masood Khan has said that corona virus is a test from Allah, and we would have to respond to the pandemic with patience and wisdom. ‘The ulema should come forward to guide the people in this hour of trial, and prepare the people to live their lives in the light of Quran and Sunnah,’ he added. In a statement after telephonic briefing from theAJK Director General Public Health, Dr Sardar Aftab Khan on Monday, he said that Azad Kashmir was somewhat safe from this calamity so far, but we would have to take all necessary measures to cope any situation in coming days. In the briefing, the AJK president was told that rapid response teams headed by district health officers (DHOs) were fully functional in all the ten districts of the liberated territory. These teams comprising representatives of revenue department, NGOs and Expanding Immunization Program (EPI), are busy in tracing the people who had recently come from abroad, to get them tested and to shift the suspects to the quarantine centers. The Director General Health told theAJK president that isolated wards have been established in ten hospitals of Azad Kashmir, while samples of 44 suspected corona cases of the state were to the National Institute of Health. Of them, test reports of 40 people have been received, and only one of them has been tested positive, who has been shifted to quarantine center in Mirpur. The state president was informed that virology lab atAbbas Institute of Medical Sciences Muzaffarabad has been strengthened on emergency basis, and hopefully, this will start functioning in a couple of days. The rapid response teams, he went on to say has also been assigned the task to coordinate, take preventive and monitor the situation round the clock. In his statement, the AJK president said that emergency measures like screening of suspected people at the entry and exit points of the liberated territory, setting up of quarantine centers, ensuring presence and training of physicians and the concerned staff in hospitals as well as timely provision of medicines have already been taken. But this is a ongoing process which will continue on daily basis, he asserted. Sardar Masood Khan appreciated the armed forces of Pakistan for imparting training to the medical teams deputed for the treatment of potential corona cases. He also lauded National Disaster Management Authority, Azad Kashmir State Disaster Management Authority and other agencies concerned for taking emergency measures.—DNA
