GB CM says recovery rate of coronavirus patients is 78 percent in region

GILGIT BALTISTAN: Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Chief Minister Hafiz Hafeez-ur-Rehman has said that the recovery rate of COVID-19 patients is 78 percent in the region.

Chief Minister Hafeez-ur-Rehman provided the statistics while attending a meeting through video link held under the chair of Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser on Monday.

Hafiz Hafeez-ur-Rehman said that coronavirus recovery rate is 78 percent in GB and the government is providing testing facility to the people without charging any fee. He said the tests were being conducted in two laboratories of Gilgit and Skardu.

He further said that the allocation of Rs 180 million for the region under Ehsaas programme was not enough.

CM Hafeez said GB government utilised the health and education endowment funds to give relief to the citizens due to the delay in disbursement of funds from the center.

He appreciated National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for providing a third consignment of protective equipment for the hospitals of Gilgit Baltistan.

The CM said equipment supplied received by GB administration includes 345,500 surgical masks and 962 N-95 masks, 6,929 protective suits, 3,161 gloves and 175 pairs of ICU shoes, 4,958 surgical caps, 3,767 shoe covers, 1577 protective gowns and other essential medicines.

GB health authorities have registered 18 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, taking the tally to 281.

The number of active coronavirus cases in the region stands at 81, whereas, one patient from Astore district have recovered today. Overall, 195 patients have  recovered from the disease in the region.

The GB health authorities have conducted 2,330 COVID-19 tests, of which 1,776 have so far come negative. Results of 292 tests conducted recently are awaited.