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Health minister reviews status of facilities
Reviewed the capacity of the system and status of availability of more beds for Covid-19 patients
A file photo of Dr Yasmin Rashid
LAHORE:
Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid chaired a high level meeting on directions from Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar at the Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education (SH&ME) Department on Monday to review the emerging pandemic situation and status of available and required facilities.
SH&ME Special Secretary Silwat Saeed, Additional Secretary Usman Khalid, Dr Salman Shahid, Dr Mehmood Shaukat, Consultant Professor Dr Asad Aslam Khan, Professor Dr Saqib Saeed, and Punjab CEO Institute of Cardiology Professor Dr Saqib Shafi were present on the occasion.
Army soldiers patrol on a street to implement new restrictions imposed in Lahore on April 26. Reuters
LAHORE: Punjab’s districts of Okara, Vehari and Sahiwal reported the highest Covid-19 positivity ratio of 51, 41 and 35 per cent, respectively during the last 24 hours, raising an alarm that the virus is now spreading from major populated cities to the rural areas.
According to the official update, 12 districts recorded alarmingly high positivity rates during the last 24 hours, including Lahore 19.5pc, Rawalpindi 12pc, Faisalabad 11.5pc, and Multan 8.1pc, as well as the three reporting the highest count. The positivity rate of the province was 11.5pc.
Medical experts warned that the virus was spreading to small districts that were earlier reporting a meagre number of cases and deaths. They said the Punjab government would have to take measures to stop mass travelling of infected patients from big cities to the smaller ones otherwise the rural areas could explode with infectio
Vaccination process smoothly underway in Punjab: health minister
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Vaccination process smoothly underway in Punjab: health minister
LAHORE (Dunya News) - Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said that the vaccination of citizens was underway and registration process for the citizens above 40 years of age had been launched.
In a statement issued here, she said that so far 198,000 healthcare workers had received the first dose of corona vaccine and over 138,000 healthcare workers had received the second dose.
Moreover, she said that so far more than 495,000 elderly citizens had received the first dose and over 160,000 received the second dose.
She said that in the last 24 hours, more than 30,000 people were vaccinated. “Overall, more than one million people have been vaccinated,” she added.
By our correspondents
ISLAMABAD: Amid sharp rise in deaths and infections, the Ministry of Interior on Sunday issued a notification stating that Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the Islamabad Capital Territory will (in accordance with their needs) seek the help of the Pakistan Army to strictly implement the coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs).
The orders, however, do not apply to Sindh.
Minister for Interior Shaikh Rashid Ahmad made the announcement via a statement and said that the decision to seek the assistance of the armed forces was taken during a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) for Coronavirus on Friday, April 23, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan.