Sindh plans to provide oxygen to COVID-19 patients in home isolation

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Secretary, Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah, said that the number of coronavirus patients is increasing rapidly. With the increasing number of cases, the provincial government is also upgrading the available health facilities. He said that the number of ICUs and HDUs in the province is also being increased and upgraded.

He said this while presiding a meeting of the Coronavirus Emergency Fund (CEF) Committee at the Sindh Secretariat. The members of the CEF committee, Chairman, Chief Ministers Inspection Team, Ahsan Mangi, and the Vice-Chancellor of the Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Professor Dr S M Tariq Rafi, attended the meeting.

Chief Secretary Sindh stated that now the number of COVID-19 patients is increasing day by day, and we are going towards the peak of the disease. A large number of coronavirus patients are currently in home isolation, and now it is very important to provide oxygen to them.

He constituted a committee comprising of the Secretary Health, VC Jinnah Sindh Medical University, CEO of the Indus Hospital, and Additional Secretary of CM Secretariat, to devise a mechanism and advertise it under the public-private partnership model for a program to deliver oxygen cylinders to COVID-19 patients who are currently in home isolation.

Chief Secretary Sindh, Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah, said that timely supply of oxygen cylinders at home could help save many lives. He added that testing laboratories would be set up in the divisional headquarters, and medical universities of the province. It was informed in the meeting that at present, three companies are supplying oxygen cylinders in the province. In the meeting of the Corona Virus Emergency Fund, Sindh Finance Secretary said that so far, PKR 3.62 billion had been deposited in the Corona Virus Emergency Fund.

He further informed the meeting that PKR 1.11 billion had been utilized so far, and other purchase orders of over PKR 1 billion have also been placed.