Citizens asked to avoid unnecessary use of N95 mask

Islamabad: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza on Sunday advised people to avoid unnecessary use of N95 mask and strictly follow the social distancing and other precautionary measures to combat Coronavirus (COVID-19) effectively.

In a televised daily briefing on COVID-19, Dr Mirza said that N95 mask was relevant to only frontline health teams including doctors and paramedical staff and it should not be used by citizens in wake of prevailing increasing demand and supply situation.

He said that citizens should continue implementing protective measures as per health officials’ directions to prevent from carrying coronavirus. He said that the government was making all out efforts to send protective equipment guidelines to all doctors, paramedical health workers and all others who are connected with coronavirus patients.

He directed the doctors and para medical staff to implement guidelines on use of masks and personal protection equipment (PPE) kits to ensure safety from COVID-19.

Dr Zafar Mirza said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had chaired a high-level meeting today to discuss the overall coronavirus situation in the country. He added important decisions regarding the next strategy are likely to be announced by the Prime Minister after meeting of National Coordination Committee tomorrow.
He said National Command and Operation Centre would issue a video to disseminate public information regarding the precautionary measures.

He said 14 deaths were reported in the country during last 24 hours, however the figure might increase in the coming days, if social distancing and other measures were not followed by the people. He added that those all who died were on ventilator.

He said 254 cases were reported in last 24 hours with overall 5,038 confirmed cases now exceeding figure to over 5,000. He said almost half of these cases were due to local transmission.

He said 1,026 people had recovered completely in the country, while 1,414 were hospitalized, with 37 in critical condition.
He said that the government of Gilgit Baltistan had made exemplary arrangements for controlling and management of COVID-19.