Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar Tuesday confirmed that there are eight positive cases of coronavirus so far and they are being provided best available medical treatment facilities.
In a tweet, Usman Buzdar said the government has received Imran Ali's test reports and his death in Mayo Hospital did not happen due to coronavirus. "We have received test reports of Imran Ali, who lost his life in Mayo Hospital, and his cause of death was not COVID19," he tweeted.
Earlier, Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid in a press conference confirmed that the number of coronavirus cases in the province had risen to 6 pushing the country's toll to 193 while also warning citizens not to treat this period as a "holiday." She said, "Our job right now is to mitigate the spread and that was why a medical emergency was declared in the province a few days ago. Do not think of this as a holiday. We want to have the minimum number of people coming out of their homes."
Dr Yasmin, who was accompanied by Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan maintained that Punjab would bear the biggest burden, when it comes to coronavirus cases in the country. "We have around 750 Zaireens that are being tested for the virus. The next batch of pilgrims is approximately 1,200 people; therefore, our number of patients will be greater."
Dr Yasmin Rashid confirmed the new cases were also reported from the pilgrims currently under quarantine in Dera Ghazi Khan who had travelled from the Pakistan-Iran border at Taftan by road. "Around 736 patients are under quarantine in Dera Ghazi Khan and are being tested," she said. "The Punjab government will keep the public informed about the situation on daily basis."
Commenting on the death of a suspected coronavirus patient at Mayo-Hospital Lahore, she said that the patient who was from Mandi Bahauddin was admitted to Mayo Hospital late last night and was kept in isolation. "We had taken his sample and have sent it for testing. I will only confirm the case when the test results come back positive." She added that the patient had travelled from Iran to Muscat before coming to Pakistan. "We kept him in isolation because he had a really strong case history," she said. Chohan on the occasion stressed the need of adopting precautionary measures, especially of chronic patients and special persons.
Moreover, Punjab Chief Secretary Azam Suleman Khan has set up the corona crisis management committee to monitor overall situation of COVID-19, demand and supply of essential commodities (especially medicines and food items), and check hoarding in the province.
The committee comprising nine members would work under Special Secretary Home Department Iqbal Hussain. As per direction of the Chief Secretary Punjab, the committee would hold meeting daily at 11am and monitor overall situation of COVID-19 in the province. It would also oversee the demand and supply of essential commodities particularly medicines and food items, besides acting against hoarding.
The committee would also ensure implementation of section 144 imposed to enforce anti-virus measures in the province. It would also present its report to the chief secretary on daily basis regarding patients in quarantine, isolation centers and high dependency units established in hospitals.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) said that in light of the fast-spreading novel coronavirus, all political and religious gatherings should be postponed "immediately".
This direction was part of a fatwa issued by the PUC after a meeting presided over by Chairman Hafiz Tahir Sherani. In the decree, religious scholars have told people to follow the measures issued by the government in order to prevent COVID-19 from spreading.
The decree further says that Urdu sermons during Friday congregations should be discontinued while Arabic sermons should be shortened.
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