ISLAMABAD - The United States has provided an additional 100 ventilators to the government of Pakistan to enhance battle against Covid-19.
The US Ambassador to Pakistan Paul W. Jones handed over ventilators to NDMA Chairman Lt. Gen. Muhammad Afzal at a ceremony here on Thursday.
Talking to newsmen, Chairman NDMA said the government was fully aware of the damage that Corona could cause to Pakistan. “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, significant progress has been made in controlling the pandemic,” he said.
Muhammad Afzal said due to effective measures taken by the government the country now had an improved health system. He said that testing capacity had been increased to one lakh per day as well as the capacity of hospitals and quarantine centers had also been increased.
Referring to the second batch of ventilators received with the support of the US government, Lt. Gen Muhammad Afzal said it would further enhance Pakistan’s capacity to fight Corona epidemic.
US Ambassador Paul W. Jones said, “The US government is thankful to Pakistan government and NDMA for strengthening relationship between the two nations in the time of such crisis.”
He said US President Trump and Prime Minister Imran Khan had vowed to fight the epidemic together and this second batch of ventilators reflected their strengthening relationship.
The first consignment was delivered in Karachi which has also been shifted to hospitals. The ventilators supplied from USA also help in pneumonia and respiratory diseases apart from its normal functionalities. The US envoy said his country was proud to be a partner with Pakistan in these hard times.
Meanwhile, the NDA also distributed more ventilators to the provinces for corona patients.
According to the data shared by an official of NDMA, Sindh was given 26 ICU ventilators and 61 bipolar whereas 19 ICU ventilators and 35 bipolar were issued to Balochistan. Ventilators provided to Punjab included 35 ICUs and 56 bipolar whereas Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was also given 4 ICU ventilators and 6 bipolar ventilators.
So far, a total of 1491 ventilators have been provided to hospitals across the country. These include 478 ICUs, 905 bipolar and 108 portable ventilators.