PESHAWAR - The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has made all the necessary arrangements to deal with COVID-19 and standardised protocols have been issued to all the health service delivery outlets to handle any possible case of Coronavirus in the province. No confirmed case has been detected yet in the province but an emergency has been declared in the province as precautionary measure.
This was told in a high-level meeting held here on Wednesday with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan in the chair. The meeting review in detail the arrangements and preparedness of health department to stop the possible outbreak of Coronavirus in the province. Besides provincial ministers Taimur Jhagra, Akbar Ayub, Shukat Yousafzai and Advisor to CM Ajmal Wazir, the meeting was attended by principal secretary to CM, secretary health, director general health services and other relevant high-ups. Secretary health briefed the meeting about the current situation, arrangements, challenges and other various aspects related to the Corona virus.
Regarding the major steps taken by the provincial government, it was told that standardized protocols for reporting and infection control have been developed and issued training of service providers on case management is underway, control room established at provincial level, regular daily zero reporting started and laboratory for testing of Coronavirus fully operationalized.
Provincial govt releases Rs100m to health department to cater for emergency; isolation wards established at all districts level hospitals
It was further informed that provincial government has released an amount of Rs100 million to the health department to cater for emergency nature of arrangements whereas the health department has setup isolation wards at all districts level hospitals and overall 983 beds both in public and private sector hospitals have been set aside for possible Coronavirus affected patients.
Furthermore, Rapid Response Units have been established in all the districts to deal with any exigency in an effective manner while line departments and autonomous bodies have been instructed to plan and execute activities pertaining to preparedness, prevention and control of COVID-19 as per their roles. “Staff members, and ambulance provided to ensure 24/7 screening at Peshawar Airport and additional staff and ambulance provided to ensure screening at Torkham border,” the secretary health informed the participants.
Expressing his satisfaction on the overall arrangements and preparedness, the chief minister directed the concerned high-ups to further improve the preparedness level. He said though no case has been detected in the province but the provincial government was fully prepared to cope with any unwanted situation. The CM stressed upon the general public to avoid panic and to adopt preventive measures at maximum level.
“Though the situation at the moment is completed satisfactory but if need arises then the provincial government is ready to take all steps and utilise all available resources to protect our people from the virus,” the chief minister remarked. He directed the concerned quarters to carry out a public health awareness campaign at mass level to educate the general public regarding Coronavirus.
Meanwhile, a high-level meeting to stop the coronavirus was held at Civil Secretariat Peshawar. The meeting was presided over by Chief Secretary Kazim Niaz and attended by representatives of Pak Army, Frontier Corps, and Frontier Constabulary, Provincial heads of Home Finance, Health and Relief Departments. It was decided in the meeting that the health department would provide additional resources and HR to Joint Rapid Response Team in District Khyber immediately and compliance report be submitted to chief secretary.