Surge in COVID-19 cases: Elective surgeries suspended in Punjab’s four hospitals

• Elective surgeries have been suspended in Mayo Hospital, Lahore General Hospital and Jinnah Hospital, Lahore and Nishtar Hospital, Multan.
• Punjab chief secretary directs the health authorities to start a door-to-door corona vaccination campaign in all districts.
• He expresses concern over a surge in cases and asked the Corona Experts Advisory Group (CEAG) to monitor the situation. 

LAHORE: In view of the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Punjab, the Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department (SHC&MED) has ordered to suspend critical elective surgeries requiring ICU management in four teaching hospitals for two weeks with immediate effect, The News reported.

According to a notification issued on Monday, the health department, in compliance of the recommendations of Corona Experts Advisory Group (CEAG), suspended elective surgeries in Lahore’s Mayo Hospital General Hospital and Jinnah Hospital, and Multan’s Nishtar Hospital.

Meanwhile, the Punjab chief secretary has expressed concern over the recent surge in corona cases in the province and directed the health authorities to start a door-to-door corona vaccination campaign in all districts. He gave this direction while presiding over a meeting at Civil Secretariat here on Monday.

The corona pandemic situation, provision of medical facilities in hospitals and vaccination targets were reviewed in the meeting.

“A door-to-door vaccination campaign in eight cities of the province has been underway since July 26 and its scope would be extended to all districts, the chief secretary added.

He expressed concern over a surge in cases and asked the Corona Experts Advisory Group (CEAG) to monitor the situation. The chief secretary said that it is evident from the data the vaccine is highly effective against the virus and that the patients who received even a single dose are in a better condition than those who did not.

He said if vaccination could save precious lives, laxity in vaccination would be a ‘criminal negligence’.

The chief secretary said that coronavirus can be prevented only by vaccinating as many people as possible. He mentioned that the vaccination campaign is a national cause, adding that implementation of the guidelines set by the National Command and Operation Centre would be ensured in any case. He appealed to the citizens to continue following SOPs along with vaccination.

The secretaries of Primary Health and Specialized Healthcare departments gave a detailed briefing to the meeting. They said the rate of positive cases has increased to over 8% in 15 districts of Punjab. The vaccination is in full swing in all districts and more than 600,000 people are being inoculated daily. The province currently has a sufficient stock of vaccines.