Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid has said that there is no need to panic about the pandemic, as the government-run hospitals have enough capacity to look after the patients if things get worse.
During a press conference in Lahore, she said that 42 percent of ventilators and 63.2 percent of intensive care unit beds are currently occupied. But added that patients cannot go to whatever hospitals they wish to go to, because they might be fully occupied. "This is not a wish programme where you can just go to the hospital you want without inquiring about bed availability".
She further said that the relatives of admitted patients will soon be updated about their loved ones in the hospitals by a patient information desk set up by the government of Punjab.
She also updated on the Remdesivir trial, which is set to start in the province soon.
Dr Yasmin Rashid said that a trial of potential Covid-19 treatment will comprise of 1000 participants.
She added, "We will decide based on the results if this drug should be made a part of the standard practice or not. The drug is controlled at the moment, it is not even sold by the company in the open market."
The health minister also advised people to stop using herbal medicines as a treatment because there is no standard research that proves them beneficial and people might end up in a worse condition.
Punjab has recently crossed the 40,000 mark of coronavirus cases in the province.