ISLAMABAD: The chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, Senator Rehman Malik, asked Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday to immediately hand over all designated hospitals across the country to Army’s Medical Corps to combat the deadly coronavirus.

In a series of tweets in which he tagged the prime minister, Malik invited his attention towards the fast growing number of individuals infected by coronavirus.

“It is not all good as being reported to you. We have potentially growing victims of coronavirus and, therefore, identify countrywide good hospitals and hand over their managements to the Army Medical Corps urgently”.

He said he was requesting the prime minister well in time as there was hardly any medical or administrative control in these hospitals, adding that let the army prepare the medical care logistics and be ready to handle coronavirus outbreak.

“I am suggesting this as a long-term solution to combat coronavirus and I have suggested the AMC to take over all those hospitals which have been notified to deal with coronavirus emergency.” He said it was purely his own personal suggestion keeping the national interest in view.

Mr Malik said the Army Medical Corps was well trained. He also referred to the role played by it in Malakand and Swat operations against Taliban.

He said the government and the army may temporarily take over private medical colleges and universities in the country and convert them into anti-coronavirus testing and treatment centres.

He advised the government to gear up efforts against coronavirus, upgrade the basic health units (BHUs) and rural health centres (RHCs) with screening facilities and establish mobile medical units to visit rural areas for identification of coronavirus patients.

“By upgrading BHUs, RHCs and establishing mobile medical units, the elderly people could be screened for coronavirus at their homes.” He said it was worrisome that screening tests were not being properly conducted in some areas while it would be considered as criminal negligence to overlook the spread of pandemic which could prove fatal for the entire country. He said he would soon hold a press conference on the issue.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-i-Islami chief Senator Sirajul Haq has asked the government to move beyond lectures and advices and focus on practical steps towards preventing spread of the deadly virus. He said the situation so far showed that the federal and local governments lacked capability and capacity to deal with any calamity.

He asked the government to arrange testing and treatment of novel coronavirus patients in each and every hospital of the country.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2020