SIALKOT: Punjab Minister for Health Dr Yasmin Rashid inaugurated the newly-established Biosafety Level-3 Laboratory at the Khwaja Muhammad Safdar Medical College Sialkot on Thursday.

This well-equipped laboratory would help control the Covid-19 in the district by providing advanced testing facilities to the people at the local level, she said while addressing the inaugural ceremony.

The minister announced establishment of a new 250-bed hospital in Sialkot at a cost of Rs4.5bn.

Later, talking to the media, Ms Rashid said no case of coronavirus was reported in 19 districts of Punjab on Thursday. She said 92,600 total cases of the virus were reported in the province so far while 234 cases were reported during the last 24 hours and five people died of the virus in Punjab.

Announces another 250-bed hospital for the city

Talking about health facilities in the district, she said the establishment of biosafety level-3 testing laboratory and provision of oxygen beds at the Khwaja Muhammad Safdar Medical College was a major service for the people of Sialkot by the Punjab government.

The minister announced the government would establish an advanced mother and child health care hospital in Sialkot. She said the government would set up mother and child health care hospitals in seven districts of Punjab, including Sialkot, as it was focusing promotion of awareness about the mother and child health care among the people.

She said Prime Minister Imran Khan would lay the foundation stone of construction of both of the new hospitals of Sialkot during his visit to the city within the next one-and-a-half months.

The minister said the Punjab government was making all-out efforts for providing better and upgraded medical health cover to the people at the local level.

She distributed appreciation certificates among the health department doctors, paramedics, employees and others for playing a front line role in the fight against the pandemic in the district. She also hailed the social and corporate sector role in this regard.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar, Provincial Minister for Special Education Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Ikhlaq, Deputy Commissioner Dr Nasir Mehmood Bashir, DPO Mustansar Feroz and PTI local leaders Umer Dar, Khawaja Arif Ahmed, John Mehboob Piyara, Senior Vice President of PML-Q Punjab Muhammad Saleem Baryar and senior health department officials were also present.

KILLED: A local footballer was shot dead by three armed motorcyclists when he was playing football in the ground near village Bambaanwala, Daska tehsil.

The police officials said an old enmity was the reason behind the murder of Haider Sultan (21).

Police shifted Sultan’s body to the Daska Civil Hospital for autopsy after registering a case against one Shakeel and his three unidentified armed companions.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2020