Govt Readies 1000-Bed Field Hospital in 9 Days

The government of Punjab has established a 1000-bed makeshift hospital at the Expo Center, Lahore in a record nine days. The field hospital is equipped with all required facilities including, triage, ICU, rescue services, etc.

Due to its distant location from the urban population, the Expo Center hospital will be dedicated to treating coronavirus patients.

ALSO READ

CM Punjab Launches Insaf Imdad Program for the Poor During Lockdown

Chief Minister Usman Buzdar visited the facility today with provincial Health Minister Yasmeen Rashid and Information Minister Fayyaz ul Hassan Chauhan.

Speaking to media on occasion, CM Buzdar said that the government is also focused on other public hospitals. His team is visiting other facilities as well and that all government hospitals will be equipped to deal with the pandemic.

Our focus will now shift towards diagnostic kits and testing facilities. We want to maximize our testing capacity, and for this, I have released Rs. 620 million to upgrade our eight labs to the biosafety level 3.

ALSO READ

Punjab Tightens Lockdown as Covid-19 Infections Increase

He added that the up-gradation work has already started and the authorities are providing protective gear to the doctors and paramedics working at various government hospitals.

CM Buzdar also mentioned that his finance department has already released Rs. 870 million for 170,000 deserving families. Each family will receive the amount (through banking channels or Easypaisa) within this week, he added.

This initiative is other than the chief minister’s Rs. 10 billion financial assistance program that also started today. Under this program, 2.5 million daily wagers, and laborers facing a financial crunch due to the coronavirus lockdown will receive Rs. 4,000 a month.