Pakistan can supply up to 100,000 PPEs to hospitals every week: NDMA chief
Pakistan has received 15 testing machines and 15,000 COVID-19 testing kits from the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative Dr. Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala on Monday.
The equipment would be extremely valuable as Pakistan aims to enhance testing and contact tracing to effectively curb the pandemic. Pakistan is currently conducting nearly 3,000 tets a day, according to Health Minister Zafar Mirza.
Addressing the media after the ceremony in Islamabad, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt. Gen. Muhammad Afzal, claimed that NDMA now has the capacity to supply 100,000 PPEs per week to all hospitals in the country. He said that the local sourcing was sufficient to fulfill the country’s requirements.
The only critical PPE gear that Pakistan is currently only importing is N-95 masks, he added. He expressed hope that Pakistan would also start producing N-95 masks soon to meet the requirement of the healthcare workers at the frontline of coronavirus (COVID-19) battle.
“We have provided the required equipment to all frontline doctors, nurses, and other officials working in 502 hospitals across the country,” said Lt. Gen. Afzal.
He urged the provincial governments to ramp up testing by aggressively targeting areas where there was a high number of confirmed cases.