Bitterly criticising the federal and provincial governments, as well as political parties, for their failure to implement the coronavirus-related standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the country, health experts on Monday, claimed no space was left at intensive care units (ICUs) and high dependency units (HDUs) of leading public and private health facilities in Karachi as the number of coronavirus patients requiring hospitalisation is constantly on the rise.
They said only a countrywide lockdown with stricter measures would be left as the last option to save the lives if the political parties, the traders and the people from all walks of life continued ignoring the warnings of the health experts and didn’t follow the SOPs as the health system could not bear the pressure due to the growing numbers of coronavirus patients.
The health experts associated with the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) said hundreds of doctors and paramedics had lost their lives due to Covid-19 in the country, including two more senior doctors in Karachi on Monday. They said hundreds of doctors had contracted the infectious disease and were unable to perform duties at the health facilities.
“We are in the middle of Covid-19’s second wave that is proving to be highly lethal. We are running out of space and beds at health facilities in Karachi,” said Prof Sohail Akhtar, a leading pulmonologist associated with the Indus Health Network, told a news conference at the Karachi Press Club on Monday.
Prof Akhtar, who is also a PIMA’s former president, said a list compiled by them had indicated that there were no beds available at the ICUs and the HDUs of nine leading hospitals in Karachi three days back.
Accompanied by other senior doctors, including Dr Misbahul Aziz, Dr Fayyaz Alam, Dr Atif Hafeez, Dr Zeeshan Ansari, Dr Saqib Ansari and Dr Imran Hamid, Prof Akhtar blasted the federal and provincial governments for their failure to get coronavirus-related SOPs implemented. He deplored that all types of gatherings, rallies and mass events were being held without precautionary measures.
“Pakistan’s Covid-19 positivity rate has reached up to 10 per cent which was only two per cent in September and October 2020. It means that now if we screen 100 people in a day, 10 of them test positive for the coronavirus infection,” he said. “Daily, thousands of people are testing positive for Covid-19 and of them, hundreds require hospitalisation.”
The former PIMA president claimed that dozens of people were dying on a daily basis at homes in the country as “there are hundreds of people who require hospitalisation but due to the unavailability of space at public and private hospitals, they do not get a chance to be treated by the qualified and trained physicians”.
He continued: “In these circumstances, we urge the people to take this disease seriously and follow the SOPs. All mass gatherings should be banned, including political rallies. Large shopping centres should be closed and wedding ceremonies should be cancelled.”
Another former PIMA president, Prof Misbahul Aziz, said hardly 20 per cent people were wearing masks at public places. He demanded the government to use “whatever it takes to implement the SOPs”, including the imposition of heavy fines and the passing of new legislation to at least enforce the wearing of face masks at public places.
“Doctors are too losing their lives while treating patients”, Dr Misbah said, adding that the business timings should be further reduced in the country.
Dr Fayyaz Alam slammed Prime Minister Imran Khan for “ignoring the residents of Karachi in his health insurance scheme”. He said it was a serious discrimination against Karachiites who contributed the highest to the national exchequer but were not entitled to the Sehat Insaf cards. “Don’t we have poor people in Karachi? Why have Karachhiites subjected to discrimination?” he questioned.
