COVID-19: NDMA delivers 286 ventilators to federating units

ISLAMABAD – The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has so far delivered 286 various type of ventilators to all federating units to cope with the growing rush of COVID-19 patients.

According to NDMA spokesman, 72 ventilators including 36 each intensive care unit (ICU) and BiPAP have been delivered to Punjab, 74 ventilators including 26 ICU and 48 BiPAP have been transported to Sindh, 52 ventilators including 26 each ICU and BiPAP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 25 ventilators including 10 ICU and 15 BiPAP have been delivered to Balochistan,10 BiPAP ventilators have been provided to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), 17 ventilators including 10 BiPAP and 7 portable ventilators have been transported to Gilgit-Baltistan,36 ventilator including 17 each ICU,BiPAP and 2 portable ventilators had been given to Islamabad.

With hospitals overwhelmed and a sharp rise in the number of deaths, Pakistan's delicate health system is bracing for an imminent peak of coronavirus cases.

Numbers here have already surpassed China, the origin of the novel virus.

Just 539 beds and 200 ventilators are available for coronavirus patients in Lahore, according to Yasmeen Rashid, health minister for northeastern Punjab province, of which Lahore is the capital.

Punjab and Sindh provinces, which make up more than 70,000 of nearly the nationwide tally, have slightly more than 14,000 beds for coronavirus patients at state-run and private hospitals.

Pakistan has a total of 95,024 cases of the novel coronavirus, with 1,935 deaths and 59,467 active cases.