GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court on Tuesday took suo motu notice of shortage and provision of substandard personal protective equipments (PPEs) to the paramedics fighting the Covid-19 pandemic on the frontlines in the region.

Chief Court Judge Justice Malik Haq Nawaz took the notice on a request the Gilgit-Baltistan Awareness Forum had uploaded on its social media page, pointing out that shortage of protective kits in the government hospitals had severely hampered the fight against coronavirus.

The judge ordered the health secretary, the medical superintendent and the district health officer Gilgit to appear before the divisional bench on April 24 to explain their positions. The forum in the complaint had urged the court to turn the request into petition under section 561-A of CrPC.

The complaint alleged that substandard PPEs had been provided to the medical professionals in the City Hospital Gilgit, as a result they were falling prey to Covid-19. It pointed out that there was no trace of the medical equipment, including international standard masks and PPEs, the Chinese and the federal governments had provided recently to the regional government.

The forum alleged the officials distributed the masks and PPEs among their friends and personal staff.

It is to mention here that two medical staffers, including Dr Usama Riaz and senior medical worker Malik Ashdar, have lost lives treating the Covid-19 patients in GB.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2020