Ministry of Health Services had decided to speed up the construction of an infection dedicated health facility for coronavirus patients in Chak Shahzad in the anticipation of a spike in the case of the dengue virus.
The construction of 250 bedded prefabricated dedicated health facility for coronavirus patients called Isolation Hospital and Infectious Treatment Centre (IHITC) in Chak Shahzad, Islamabad is in its final stage.
Ministry of Health Services is taking the danger of the dengue virus seriously and has decided to speed up the production of health facilities to facilitate coronavirus patients. Thousands of dengue virus cases were reported in 2019 and now in 2020, it would be highly difficult to tackle if it again appears during the Covid-19 pandemic condition.
Last year, there were 13,000 cases alone in Islamabad and 10,118 cases in Punjab, and approximately 60 percent were reported in Rawalpindi. This outbreak of dengue was a difficult time for citizens and that is why the Ministry of Health Services is trying hard to speed up their work to facilitate coronavirus infected patients so that the dengue outbreak could not affect them.
Dr. Minhajus Siraj, the Joint Executive Director of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) said, “Soon that isolation ward — which has 30 beds — will be filled and it was decided to convert the hospital’s private ward into an isolation ward as well, and 50 beds were placed in that ward. We currently have 45 patients in the hospital, but dengue season has begun and we have been expecting a spike in the next four weeks, due to which a new ward will have to be established in the hospital to avoiding choking the isolation wards. The 250-bed hospital is being constructed in Chak Shahzad. It was decided to complete construction in the next four to six weeks, as we also have to deal with dengue patients. ”
Further, he said that there is no need to be panic about the dengue virus as it is not as harmful as COVID-19. It is not transmittable from person to person but proper arrangements would be made to deal with both diseases.
