• Coronavirus death toll close to 300 in Pakistan
• Sindh governor tests positive for Covid-19

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: As the novel coronavirus cases surged to 13,947 on Monday with Sindh Governor Imran Ismael contracting the infection, Interior Minister retired Brig Ijaz Shah has suggested to provincial governments to curtail intercity movement on weekends and educate traders to observe the government guidelines and play their role in containing the spread of the deadly virus.

Brig Shah gave these suggestions to the provinces during a meeting at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Covid-19 on Monday. Focal persons or chief secretaries of all the provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Islamabad commissioner joined the meeting through video link.

The interior minister said the intercity movement be curtailed on weekends to avoid crowding for public safety and health. A large number of people across the country visit their hometowns on weekends. Brig Shah also asked the provinces to educate traders that only those who follow the official guidelines on surgical masks and social distancing be allowed to visit their shops.

In a late night tweet, Sindh Governor Imran Ismael announced that he had tested positive for Covid-19.

Earlier during the day, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza vowed that the protection of healthcare providers would be ensured as they were the ‘frontline heroes’ and said that healthcare providers would be trained about proper use of personal protective equipment (PPEs).

According to him, improper use of PPEs was one of the major reasons behind increasing number of Covid-19 cases in healthcare providers.

Around 200 healthcare providers have been infected with the highly contagious coronavirus that had also claimed multiple lives including that of a senior ENT surgeon in Peshawar.

The meeting reviewed the implementation of Ramazan guidelines and the Covid-19 situation in the country.

According to the data released by the NCOC following the meeting, 605 new cases and 12 deaths were reported during the past 24 hours. The number of critical patients increased from around 50 to 139.

While talking to Dawn, Dr Waseem Khawaja, media coordinator for Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), said that two coronavirus patients died at the hospital on Monday.

“Shakir Ali, 65, was a resident of Rawalpindi and was also suffering from tuberculosis. The deceased was admitted to Pims on April 19 after he tested positive for Covid-19,” he said.

“The other deceased, 89-year-old Latifur Rehman, a resident of federal capital, had been on ventilator. Overall nine patients have died due to coronavirus at Pims,” the official said.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2020