Tag: patients

  • PM’s surprise visit to PIMS Hospital’s Covid ward

    PM’s surprise visit to PIMS Hospital’s Covid ward

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday night paid a surprise visit to the coronavirus ward of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad, to review the conditions there. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, PM Khan met with the patients and inquired about their health.

    The premier particularly inquired about the facilities being provided to COVID-19 patients at the hospital, particularly the availability of oxygen and medicines.

    Addressing the staff at the hospital, the PM said that since healthcare workers are the country’s frontline fighters, they should also take care of themselves apart from taking care of the patients.

    The premier also inquired from doctors and the staff if all of them have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

    He said that the third wave of the coronavirus is more lethal than the previous two ones, adding that people should follow the SOPs to protect themselves from the virus

    The virus has so far claimed 19,106 lives in Pakistan, while the number of total cases in the country has reached 864,557.

  • Punjab unable to locate 1,012 suspected COVID-19 patients in Lahore, Sialkot and Multan

    The Punjab government is trying to trace 1,012 suspected carriers of the deadly COVID-19 in various areas of the province, a private media outlet has reported.

    Quoting officials, the report said these suspected carriers, who are scattered mainly in Lahore, Sialkot and Multan, have been included in the final tally of the confirmed cases until they test negative for the virus. Of these 1,012 suspected carriers, 691 are in Lahore, 87 in Sialkot and 72 in Multan.

    The report also quoted Punjab Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department Deputy Secretary Mudasir Ahmed as saying that the suspected patients are contacts of confirmed coronavirus patients. The official said that they are gathering their phone numbers and addresses of these suspected patients and there is a “big and successful mechanism” in place for contract-tracing in the province.

    Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Director Operations Nisar Ahmed told the news outlet that they already know where all the positive cases are, so the people they came into contact with must also be carriers of the virus. He added that they were currently trying to trace these suspected carriers.

    Punjab has over 6,200 confirmed cases of the deadly virus, the highest in the country.

  • Major win against coronavirus as China discharges 36,117 recovered patients

    In what is being termed as a major win against the new coronavirus — COVID-19 — for China, the country has discharged a total of 36,117 patients from hospitals after recovery, official state-run Chinese press agency, Xinhua, reported.

    The criteria for deciding if a patient has recovered varies between provinces, but in general, Chinese hospitals require people to test negative twice in a row, and to show no obvious symptoms such as a fever. Patients who are released are supposed to check in with their hospital and can face retesting — which is when some tested positive again.

    A total of 36,117 patients infected with the novel coronavirus had been discharged from hospital after recovery by the end of Thursday, reports quoted Chinese health officials as saying on Friday.

    Thursday saw 3,622 people walk out of hospital after recovery, the National Health Commission said in its daily report.

    By the end of Thursday, a total of 78,824 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions of mainland China, and 2,788 people had died of the disease.

    Meanwhile, another report quoted a key Chinese respiratory disease expert as saying that some discharged coronavirus patients could still carry the virus and be infectious, potentially posing another complication to Beijing’s efforts to control the epidemic.

    Zhao Jianping, the head of the coronavirus containment team in worst-affected Hubei province, said a minority of patients who were discharged from hospital after tests showed they were negative for the virus later tested positive again. China counts patients whose throat or nose swabs show up positive for the virus in a nucleic acid test, and those whose CT scans show lesions in their lungs, as infected cases.

    It is pertinent to note that the news of recoveries from China — epicentre of the virus — comes as the world fights a global outbreak of the disease. While cases are being reported in the United States (US), Europe and the Middle East, Pakistan has also confirmed the presence of virus with first two infections.

    The presence of coronavirus in Pakistan was confirmed on Wednesday, with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health, Dr Zafar Mirza, tweeting the reaffirmation.

    Dr Mirza also addressed a joint press conference with Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan late on Wednesday night confirming the two cases in Karachi in Islamabad.

    The SAPM, while urging calm across the country, confirmed that the first patient along with his family had been quarantined. The 22-year-old man in question had returned to Pakistan from Iran on February 20, with all passengers from the flight set to be tracked and tested. At least 100 patients have been tested negative thus far.