ISLAMABAD: Fearing that a surge in Covid-19 cases could cripple the country’s healthcare system, Senate Standing Com­mit­tee on Interior chairman Senator A. Rehman Malik on Wednesday asked the authorities concerned to take extraordinary steps to check further spread of the virus.

Speaking at a press conference, Senator Malik said patients with underlying health issues like kidney and heart ailments as well as cancer were not being admitted by hospitals in Islamabad at a time when they needed medical care the most.

He said that even Covid-19 patients who required immediate oxygen support and ventilators were being denied admission as the fragile healthcare system lacked capacity.

Mr Malik said he had written to the interior secretary and chief commissioner, asking them to direct all hospitals in Islamabad Capital Territory to admit patients with pre-existing health conditions.

He said the capital administration should immediately arrange temporary beds for such patients to save their lives and advised the government to procure vaccines on an urgent basis from all available international sources.

The senator said special care should be taken of police personnel and public servants so that they were not affected by the virus, especially those police officials who were working and living in Police Lines.

He said a detailed meeting of the committee would be held soon which would deliberate on the precautionary measures being adopted by the capital administration to stop the potential spread of coronavirus in Islamabad.

Mr Malik said the country was passing through testing times as on one hand it was confronted by the threat of coronavirus and, on the other, the security situation on the southern and western borders was unstable as India was hatching conspiracies against Pakistan.

He said under such a situation there was a need for unity and collective wisdom, adding that the current political polarisation was neither in favour of the people of Pakistan nor democracy.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2020