Young doctors decry lack of PPE, delay in test results

LAHORE: Young Doctors Association (YDA) on Tuesday lamented that the Punjab government has not provided personal protective equipment and masks to healthcare professionals in the province.

Talking to media outside the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), members of the association said the hospital is not safe for coronavirus patients as the SOPs are not followed.

They regretted that test results that ought to be provided in 12 hours are released in 14 days, adding 48 staffers at the PIC have contracted the deadly virus because of a lack of protective gear for healthcare workers.

“The Punjab government has not provided any facility to healthcare professionals,” the YDA members claimed, adding they have not been provided even masks as doctors discharging duty in the emergency ward of the hospital have just seven kits and 10 masks.

There are no proper arrangements for transferring and handling bodies of Covid-19 victims, they regretted.

The YDA demanded of the government to provide PPE and masks to healthcare professionals.

The nationwide tally of coronavirus cases has soared to 43,966 with 1841 new cases reported during the last twenty-four hours.

Overall 15976 cases have been detected in Punjab, 17241 in Sindh, 6230 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2820 in Balochistan, 550 in Gilgit Baltistan, 1034 in Islamabad and 115 in Azad Kashmir. A total of 12,489 patients have so far recovered from the virus whilst the death toll stands at 939 with 36 new deaths reported.