COVID-19: Zafar Mirza dispels rumours of saturated health facilities in Pakistan

The prime minister's aide on health, Dr Zafar Mirza, on Sunday dispelled rumours of saturated health facilities in terms of unavailability of beds, ventilators, and other resources, saying that only 28% of ventilators have so far been engaged by COVID-19 patients across the country .

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, the federal minister did lament, however, that with 88 fatalities, the country has reported the highest death toll in the last 24 hours.

He said with 201 patients on ventilators, the number is also the highest figure of patients on ventilators since the emergence of COVID-19 in the country.

"About 723 patients are in critical condition and 201 of them are on ventilators, which is the maximum number of people on ventilators," said Dr Mirza.

In a bid to monitor the health facilities in the country and to eliminate confusion regarding hospital bed availability, the health ministry has launched a Resource Management System (RMS) to collect and provide real-time information about coronavirus patients across Pakistan.

Providing details of the system, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Information Technology Board, Shabahat Ali said that all the hospitals across Pakistan have been linked with this system.

"Hospitals can individually provide real time data for a unified and consolidated picture of the resources available to treat COVID-19 patients," he explained

Ali went on to add that social welfare organisations like Edhi Foundation and Rescue 1122 will also be given access to the system so that they can get updated information about availability of beds, ventilators, and Personal Protection Equipment for people suffering from COVID-19.

"Over 1,500 hospitals across the country have been linked with this system, providing real time information about availability of beds, ventilators, and other facilities for coronavirus patients," he said.

With a radius set on the map, Ali said that "real time data" on hospital beds, ventilators and other resources available for the immediate treatment of patients will be accessible.

He said that for ease of use, a National Emergency Response app has been developed. "The app will point you to the nearest ventilator or hospital bed available for patients," he said, adding that the facility was set up after extensive research of two months.