Shehbaz Sharif demands free coronavirus testing facilities

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif has demanded that coronavirus testing should be made free of cost, ARY News reported.

In a statement, the PML-N president said that patients suffering from coronavirus must be immediately removed from the mainstream hospitals and marriage halls, schools, colleges and mosques should instead be used as quarantine facilities.

“Coronavirus testing should be made free of cost with immediate effect” he demanded, adding that data regarding screening and corona testing of people should be made public as hiding the facts would not resolve the issues.

He appealed the nation to follow the guidelines given to them by the incumbent government in order to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Shehbaz Sharif on Friday distributed 10,000 safety kits and masks among doctors treating coronavirus patients in Punjab province. The PML-N leader also directed the PML-N’s elected representatives to help with efforts to deal with the pandemic in their areas.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said that Pakistan had faced bigger challenges in past and will come of this coronavirus pandemic as well.

The Opposition Leader in National Assembly (NA) said that he was in London with his ailing brother Nawaz Sharif and decided to return back to Pakistan after witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases.

It may be noted that Pakistan’s count of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases soared to 1526 on Sunday, according to the latest statistics released by the National Command and Control Center.

Thus far 13 deaths from the disease have been reported in the country, while 28 have made full recoveries after contracting coronavirus.