BATTAGRAM/SHANGLA: The administrations of Battagram and Shangla districts have established isolation wards in hospitals as a precautionary measure against the possible spread of coronavirus, which has originated in the city of Wuhan in the central Chinese province of Hubei.

The precautionary steps were taken on the directives of provincial health department in the two districts, where a large number of Chinese nationals are present to execute different projects under the CPEC.

A letter issued to the district health authorities from the directorate general health services, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, mentioned that considering the ongoing epidemic of coronavirus in China and its cross-border transmission to at least 14 countries, the health department has generated a public health alert for the prevention and control of the virus.

The letter said the DHO and his surveillance team of the respective district would visit the Chinese camps and collect information on suspected cases.

Battagram DHO Dr Gul Shahzada, when contacted, told Dawn that they had established four isolation wards, one at the district headquarters hospital and others at rural health centres in Kuzabanda and Thakot and civil hospital, Banna.

In Shangla, the district administration and health department jointly started taking precautionary measures after the district was declared vulnerable to the spread of coronavirus.

Additional deputy commissioner, Shangla, Maqbool Hussain said the health department had constituted a team to collect data of the Chinese nationals working at different projects in the district.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2020