376 healthcare workers sickened with COVID-19 in Pakistan: report

Nearly 400 healthcare workers have contracted coronavirus in Pakistan, and five have died, states a report by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The daily situation report, generated by the WHO on Monday, with information gathered from the ministry of national health services, records 376 healthcare professionals who have been sickened with the novel coronavirus to date. The majority, 181 are doctors and 55 are nurses.

The report also notes that five medics have died in Pakistan since the outbreak of the deadly virus in February.

Providing a further breakdown, it records that 132 healthcare providers have been hospitalized, while 152 are isolated at home and 87 have recovered.

Dr Osama Riaz, a young physician in Gilgit Baltistan, was the first doctor in the country who lost his life to the virus on March 23.

The total confirmed cases in the country stand at 14,504, with Sindh having  5,291 infections, Punjab 5,730, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 1,984, Balochistan 853, Islamabad 261, Gilgit-Baltistan 320, and 65 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, the country has reported 312 deaths from the pandemic, with most of them, 114, from KP, 95 in Punjab, 92 in Sindh, 14 in Balochistan, three in GB, and four in Islamabad.

Separately, the Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said Wednesday the government was worried about the frontline doctors and that those taking care of COVID-19 patients will be given the status of a martyr if they die while serving.

"The [family of the] doctor who dies during service will be given a package equal to that of a martyr," he said.

"A package worth Rs3-10 million will be provided," he said, adding: "100% pension will be provided to their families, while their allotted houses will not be taken."

He said that the package will be available for doctors in Islamabad, GB, and AJK.