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‘Fear we don’t start treating Covid-19 patients on road’: Pakistan doctors say they are running out of beds
The doctors said it is very unfortunate that people in Pakistan are not taking Covid-19 seriously.
The doctors in Pakistan have warned that the coronavirus pandemic could worsen in the country in the coming weeks, and warned people to follow social distancing norms especially during the month of Ramzan.
“This is a medical problem which has its resulting economic and social effects. But we need to understand that this is nonetheless primarily a medical issue,” Dr Saad Niaz, a gastroenterologist, said at a press conference in Karachi on Wednesday.
He added that the country has seen 30-40 per cent increase in the number of Covid-19 patients in the last four days, and said it’s very unfortunate that people are not considering this as a serious issue.
“The severity is much more than we think and the numbers will continue to rise,” said Dr Niaz. “If a lockdown wouldn’t have been imposed, the situation would have been different. And if we don’t act now, two weeks down the line, the situation would be very different.”
He also highlighted that the country’s medical infrastructure is already stretched, and said there are no beds for patients. “We will have great difficulty in the coming days such as refusal to admit patients because of no beds,” said Dr Niaz.
“The projected figures of potential Covid-19 infection is 70,000, and if even 10 per cent of those are serious, we don’t have capacity to accommodate those. There are no ventilators,” said Dr Niaz.
“What I fear is that we start treating patients on the road. That we don’t have to decide from among your (people’s) relatives that who is a 35-year-old and who is 55 and give preference to the younger one,” he added.
According to media reports, the doctors have also written a letter pleading with the clerics to reverse the decision of leaving mosques open during Ramzan warning it could result in an explosion of Covid-19 cases as numbers are already on the rise at an increased rate throughout the country.
Pakistan President Arif Alvi had last week announced that neither the state machinery nor clerics would stop citizens from visiting mosques as the government accepted almost all demands of the clerics related to the holding of Friday, Taraweeh and daily congregational prayers with the condition of social distancing and other precautionary measures.
A sharp increase in Covid-19-related deaths has been recorded in Pakistan this week. More than 200 people have died, with over 10,513 infections recorded as of Thursday.
