PESHAWAR – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan yesterday visited quarantine centre and isolation unit set up at the Abdul Wali Khan University Garden Campus to review the arrangements put in place for the corona patients.
Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dr. Kazim Niaz also accompanied him.
On the occasion, Commissioner Mardan Mutahir Zaib gave a detailed briefing to the Chief Minister regarding the latest corona situation in Mardan and steps taken by the divisional and district administration to contain its outbreak.
The Chief Minister was informed that quarantine centers have been set up in five different places of the district with a total capacity of 2175 individuals whereas High Dependency Units with capacity of 20 beds and isolation facilities with a capacity of 1757 individuals have also been set up in the districts.
“Presently, there are a total of 92 confirmed cases of corona in Mardan, 194 suspected patients are being kept in quarantines whereas 08 individuals are in isolation center,” the Commissioner informed and added that so far there was only one death case in the district.
He further informed that 43 individuals have completely recovered whereas test reports of 315 have been received out of which 92 were corona positive and 259 were negative.
Regarding the latest situation of Manga Union Council, it was informed that at present there were 69 confirmed cases of corona in the area, 800 households had been provided food packages and the area was being de-sealed after extensive chlorination.
The Chief Minister highly lauded the role of the district administration in containing the outbreak of corona pandemic, and appreciated the residents of Manga Union Council for their cooperation with the administration in this regard.
He expressed the hope that with cooperation of the general public, the government will be able to deal with it the situation in an effective way.
Later, talking to media representatives, the Chief Minister once again appreciated the civil administration, army, police, rescue, media and the general public for their effective role in fighting the corona pandemic and stressed the need of well coordinated and collective efforts of all the segments of society to prevent the mass scale outbreak of corona.
Mahmood Khan said that the overall situation of corona in district Mardan was improving day by day for which the local administration and the general public especially the residents of Manga Union Council deserve appreciation.
He termed the frontline health workers as the real heroes and said that not only the government but the whole nation rightly feels proud of their valuable services.
Replying to a question, the Chief Minister made it clear that just, fair and transparent distribution of the relief package would be ensured in all respects and every single deserving individual will get the relief adding that he is the Chief Executive of the entire province and not of any specific area, and as such it is his responsibility to take care of every locality and every individual of the province.
About the provision of medical equipments to hospitals and Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) for the health workers, Mahmood Khan stated that the provincial government had released an amount of Rs. 8 billion for the purpose and so far procurements of Rs. 1.5 billion has been made whereas work is in progress on further procurement.
Regarding the testing facilities for suspected corona patients, the Chief Minister said that steps were being taken on an emergency basis to increase the overall testing capacity adding that corona testing labs are being established at all divisional headquarters.
Mahmood Khan made an appeal to the people of Mardan to cooperate with the administration regarding the implementation of government’s instructions to ensure social distancing and expressed the hope that if the public continues its cooperation in the coming days as well, situation will come to normalcy within one month or so.
Article source: https://nation.com.pk/08-Apr-2020/collective-role-vital-to-fight-corona-kp-cm