Pakistan consuming 90% of oxygen it produces: PM’s aide
Pakistan is consuming at least 90% of the oxygen it is producing, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s special assistant on national health services said.
“We are utilizing 90% of the oxygen,” Dr. Faisal Sultan, PM Khan’s special assistant. “We need to take it very seriously.”
800 metric tonnes of oxygen
Dr Sultan said the government had increased its capacity of producing oxygen by 380 metric tonnes and Pakistan is now producing 800 metric tonnes of oxygen.
We are using 90% of it, he added.
Pakistan is currently facing third wave of the coronavirus which the officials say is more dangerous than the previous ones.
The virus has so far claimed 16,999 lives in Pakistan. The total numbers of confirmed cases has reached 790,016.
PM Khan’s special assistant warned that the government may have to place severe restrictions in major Pakistani cities if the people don’t follow the coronavirus SOPs.
“We have to stop the number of cases,” Dr Sultan said. If we don’t see people taking the SOPs serious, the government may impose “severe restrictions”
“There are at least 15 cities where we will need to impose severe restrictions,” he said.
Government to consider complete lockdown if Covid-19 trend stays same
Fawad Chaudhry, the information minister in PM Khan’s cabinet, has also warned that the government will have to impose a nationwide lockdown if the third wave of coronavirus doesn’t subside in the upcoming week.
Talking to the media in Karachi, he said that the prime minister has always resisted a complete lockdown but if the number of deaths from the virus keeps going up, the government will have to take “difficult decisions”.
“Daily wagers, the poor segment [of society], and traders will suffer the most if a lockdown is imposed,” Chaudhry said, pointing out that to prevent this SOP implementation should be ensured.
The minister said that hospitals in major cities are under pressure. “In Lahore, 90% of ICU beds are full.” Oxygen beds in Gujranwala and Multan have reached 88% and 85% capacity.
The coronavirus positivity ratio in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is alarming. “The infection rate in Mardan has reached 40%,” Chaudhry revealed.
Five hundred and sixty ventilators in Pakistan are presently occupied.
