Lahore: The Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHD) department has conducted screening of 1,076 Chinese citizens and cleared them of coronavirus disease.

Health Secretary retired Capt Muhammad Usman said the department teams dispatched for the purpose accessed as many as 2,795 Chinese in Punjab. He said the Punjab Home Department had provided the health department a list of 2,795 Chinese with their home address and work place for the purpose of screening.

He said the screening of remaining Chinese people would also be completed as soon as possible. They were working for 50 companies at various sites of the Punjab province on different positions.

Of them, Mr Usman said, 150 people had returned from China during the last 15 days or so.

However, during screening process 1,076 of them showed no sign of novel coronavirus that has played havoc in China, the health secretary said.

He said seven suspected patients were admitted to the high-dependency unit (HDU). The department had already dispatched their samples to Hong Kong and their reports were awaited yet.

To a question, he said, most of the suspected patients had already been discharged after they recovered during treatment. Muhammad Usman further said the coronavirus committee constituted by the Punjab chief minister is examining the situation on a daily basis.

“We are trying to avert any kind of emergency for which the health department is in liaison with all the provincial and federal agencies,” Mr Usman said.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2020