KP extends health emergency for three months.

PESHAWAR -- The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government extended health emergency for three months in view of Coronavirus Disease 2019 outbreak after confirmation of five cases in the country and circulation of virus in the neighbouring China, Iran and Afghanistan.

The public health committee formed by the government to spearhead the preparedness work for prevention of COVID-19, invoked Public Health (Surveillance and Response) Act, 2017 on February 3 to be able to acquire medical supplies and other resources in speedy manner and put brakes on possible transmission of the virus, which hit the neighbouring China.

A notification, issued here on Thursday, said that emergency was extended till June 1. Officials said whenever emergency was declared by state, it relaxed the normal procedures of procurement and resource availability to help the relevant authorities to take quick measures as opposed to normal procedure that took longer to procure medicines, etc.

District Health Officer Dr Akram Shah said they had purchased personal protective equipments to safeguard health workers in the hospital against the infection.

'Declaration of emergency is a good step to strengthen preparations at district level. We have three suspected cases of COVID but all were isolated. They are negative,' he said.

Official says equipment bought to protect health workers from coronavirus

Dr Akram said that they had established an isolation and high dependency unit in Saidu Group of Hospitals. Our surveillance of people with travel history to China and Iran is ongoing. Now we have included even bus stands from Balochistan and Karachi in our surveillance network,' he said.

Meanwhile, authorities have stepped up arrangements to screen the people coming from Iran after completion of two-week incubation period next week. All measures in accordance with...