All five coronavirus patients in Pakistan 'recovering rapidly': Zafar Mirza

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services, Dr Zafar Mirza on Wednesday said that all five patients diagnosed with novel coronavirus have been recovering rapidly, ARY News reported.

Addressing a conference in Rawalpindi today, he said the government’s health reforms agenda is aimed at achieving the universal health coverage, adding that the primary healthcare services are being strengthened to realize this vision.

“Overall 200 cases of suspected coronavirus were tested out of which only five diagnosed with COVID-19,” said Zafar. The PM’s aide further said that the incumbent govt was taking all necessary to counter the spread of coronavirus in the country.

Zafar Mirza said that the health department was not suggesting Islamabad administration to close schools in the federal capital. All sectors are working collectively and we are hopeful that things will remain under control.

He said that people who recently came from Iran and China should immediately reach hospital or keep themselves in isolation at homes. All relevant agencies and health department of the provinces will have to do their best to deal with the outbreak, said Mirza and urged the masses to take precautions and follow the hygiene principles.

“Instead of creating panic and spreading fake news on social media and other platforms, we should take precautionary measures to fight novel coronavirus,” he urged.

The Special Assistant said that a program titled Yaran-e-Waton is also being launched to enable Pakistani doctors serving abroad to make their contributions in bringing improvement in the country’s healthcare system.

Meanwhile, China on Wednesday reported 38 more deaths from the new coronavirus but a fall in fresh cases for a third consecutive day.

The death toll nationwide is now 2,981, the National Health Commission said, with more than 80,200 people infected in total.

The number of suspected infections in China fell to the lowest level since late January, at 520 cases — down from nearly 29,000 suspected cases reported in early February.