Chief Minister Punjab chair a meeting to review Corona situation, permits family for burial of corona victim

Lahore : Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired the video link meeting of cabinet meeting for the eradication of corona at his office here on Tuesday to take stock of the situation.

Addressing the meeting, the CM expressed the satisfaction that daily testing capacity of Punjab has reached to 12 thousand while the total number of corona patients is 68308. 19580 have been recovered and 3498 patients are under treatment in different hospitals of the province, he added.

The number of confirmed patients has declined during the last three days, he continued. Meanwhile, the number of high dependency units in the hospitals of the provincial metropolis has been increased from 671 to 1228. The number of oxygen-beds in Rawalpindi hospitals is being increased from 227 to 607 and 58 more beds are also arranged for corona patients in Nishter Hospital Multan. Now, the number of beds has increased to 202 in this hospital, he added.

Similarly, 66 ventilators have been provided to Mayo Hospital Lahore, Nishter Hospital Multan, Urology Hospital Rawalpindi, Social Security Hospital Lahore and PKLI Lahore in collaboration with the federal government. Three PCR machines have also been given to Jinnah hospital Lahore, Quaid-e-Azam Medical College Bahawalpur and Sheikh Zaid Hospital Rahim Yar Khan, he added.

He stated that services of 473 additional doctors, 674 nurses and 211 health professionals have been arranged. The heirs of employees of grades up to 16 will be given four million rupees who will die while performing corona duties. The heirs of 17 and above grade officers will be given eight million rupees under Shaheed Package, he said.

Meanwhile, approval of the revision of SOPs for the burial of corona patients has been given and the family member could also give Ghusal to the deceased while wearing personal protective equipment.

The CM also directed to continue crackdown against those involved in the hoarding of necessary medicines and asked the administration to submit the report. Meanwhile, the Punjab Healthcare Commission should take action against private hospitals involved in overcharging, he said.

The CM also directed to constitute a committee to monitor matters pertaining to private hospitals. A comprehensive plan for Eid-ul-Adha should be presented earlier as sacrificial animals’ markets will not be established within the city limits on Eid-ul-Adha. He further directed to submit a definitive plan for sealing some areas in Lahore at the earliest and decision of sealing of the areas should be implemented after consultation with the stakeholders, the CM added. 

Provincial Ministers Dr Yasmeen Rashid, Mian Aslam Iqbal, Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan, Chief Secretary, IG Police, ACS (Home) administrative secretaries and Commissioner Lahore attended the meeting at CMO while military officials, Secretary Local Bodies, Secretary Transport, Secretary Higher Education, Secretary Livestock and DG PDMA participated through video link.