FAISALABAD: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) claims that half of the Allied Hospital has been converted into a Covid-19 ward by the administration as the number of patients surges rapidly by the day.

The Allied Hospital is a biggest infirmary of Faisalabad catering to thousands of people of Sargodha, Jhang, Chiniot, Toba Tek Singh, Mianwali, Khushab, Nankana and other districts.

The PMA office-bearers held a video conference on Friday, headed by its patron Dr Tufail Muhammad. PMA Punjab Vice President Dr Abdul Sattar, PMA Faisalabad chapter President Dr Soulat Nawaz, Secretary Dr Muhammad Irfan and others also attended the meeting.

The doctors said the ease in lockdown by the government had led to an increase in the number of patients in Punjab, particularly in Faisalabad, and the situation was grave as the people were not following the standard operating procedure (SOP).

Expresses concern at surge in patients

The meeting was told that 61,227 people were suffering from the Covid-19 and 1,260 had succumbed to the virus.

Talking about the number of patients in Faisalabad, the PMA office-bearers said the patients were increasing with every passing day.

The General Hospital Ghulam Muhammadabad was allocated for the treatment of Covid-19 patients but it had no space to deal with more patients as their number increased. In view of more number of patients, beds were allocated in the Allied Hospital and the DHQ Hospital but now these two hospitals had also started having issues of space to tackle the influx of patients, they said.

The administration fixed the CCU-II ward of the Allied Hospital for the coronavirus patients; however, the ward was completely filled with patients in just six hours. The doctors said the Allied Hospital administration had allocated almost half of the hospital for the coronavirus patients, which was a matter of grave concern. They suggested that administration should allocate a complete hospital for the coronavirus patients as treatment of the patients suffering from other ailments could not be compromised.

The Covid patients, the doctors added, were being treated in the emergency and other wards of the DHQ Hospital after the beds allocated for the virus patients in the isolation and ICU wards got occupied.

The disease was also hitting the doctor fraternity and paramedics as well, the PMA office-bearers complained, lamenting that the people were not taking the disease seriously which could lead to any catastrophic situation.

They appealed to the masses to follow the SOP to stay safe from the pandemic. They asked the government to exercise the partial lockdown if it could not go for the complete lockdown and impose heavy fines on the violators.

The meeting paid tributes to the doctors who were saving the pandemic without fear.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2020