Punjab govt forms two-member body to probe coronavirus’ patient death  

LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmeen Rashid on Friday visited Mayo Hospital Lahore to probe the death of a coronavirus patient allegedly due to non-provision of ventilator, ARY NEWS reported.

The health minister said that she had formed a two-member committee to be led by senior professors to probe into the matter and strict action would be taken if doctors’ negligence is proved.

It is pertinent to mention here that a footage obtained by ARY NEWS showed a patient at Mayo Hospital tied with ropes on a bed, crying for help.

CEO Mayo Hospital Professor Asad Aslam said the coronavirus patient was tied with ropes after he tried to escape from the hospital ward.

However, sources privy to the details, claimed that he was tied with ropes after he demanded to shift him on ventilator due to his deteriorating health condition.

Instead of shifting him on ventilator, two ward boys tied him with a rope, they said adding that the patient was found dead inside the ward’s bathroom and his body was retrieved after the staffers broke into it after waiting for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, Professor Asad Aslam said that the patient talked of supernatural forces and he was tied with ropes to avoid his escape. “His medical condition did not require him to be put on ventilator,” he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that the death toll in the country from COVID-19 soared to 10 after Punjab reported its fourth coronavirus death on Friday.

According to the Punjab Health Department, a 70-year-old coronavirus patient died in Lahore’s Mayo Hospital here on Friday. He was a resident of Sheikhupura.

Read More: Two doctors treating Covid-19 patients in Punjab test positive for virus

This is the fourth coronavirus death in Punjab and second in Lahore.

It must be noted that there are 1,235 confirmed coronavirus case in Pakistan, according to the latest report released by the National Command and Control Center on coronavirus on Friday.

The national dashboard, maintained by the federal ministry of health, reported that Sindh province has been affected more due to the virus, where the number of cases stands at 429, Punjab 408, Balochistan 131, KP 147, Gilgit-Baltistan, 91, Islamabad 27 and two cases were reported in Azad Kashmir.