Number of virus patients in Pakistan may reach 4m by August, warn medical experts
A woman reacts as a paramedic takes a swab sample at a glass booth, to be tested for the coronavirus, in Karachi, Pakistan, on Wednesday. Reuters
Medical experts have warned that the number of coronavirus patients in Pakistan might reach four million in July and August.
The rapid increase in the number of coronavirus patients has put a question mark over official data owing to lack of facilities to test all virus suspects.
The surge in deaths and number of corona patients also indicate the looming danger, said a research done by Geo News, which is based on experts’ comments and analysis of data collected from four big cities of the country.
Pakistan Medical Association’s Lahore chapter president Prof Ashraf Nizami has expressed concern over the upcoming situation, saying that the number of corona patients may reach up to four million while the death toll might rise to 80,000.
Professor Saeed Khan of Dow University of Health Sciences also showed similar concern and said the number of positive patients and deaths might multiply four to five times in the coming days.
Pakistan medical association’s Multan chapter president Dr Masood Hiraj said if the people would not follow the SOPs, the number of patients might surge more than a million.
The management of a private hospital in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province said the virus was rapidly growing in the province and only 22 per cent people could be tested, adding that if government and private laboratories would conduct tests than the number might surge.
Prof Mukhtar Zaman, a physician from a private hospital in KP, said if 100,000 tests are conducted daily, the positive cases may rise to 50,000 in the province.
Doctors’ Pioneer Unity’s Multan president Dr Shahid Rao said a patient can infect more than 10 people. He said the number of patients might be too high if actual data is available. Researchers have claimed there is no record of a large number of corona patients available.
