Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza has expressed his gratitude for China for extending cooperation to Pakistan in the fight against coronavirus (COVID-19).
Briefing the team of Chinese doctors at the National Institute of Health here on Sunday, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister said that he hoped that Pakistani health professionals would learn from their Chinese counterparts to stem the tide against coronavirus.
He said that Pakistan was highly impressed with the way the Chinese government dealt with the Covid-19 by putting timely measures. Mirza said, "Not a single coronavirus case was imported from China. This happened due to coordination and cooperation between the governments of Pakistan and China."
He said that China had written a new chapter in the history of public health by putting around 60 million people under quarantine. He said the arrival of Chinese doctors was also important as Pakistan was going to start the training of healthcare professionals in critical care.
He said that Pakistan and China would continue cooperating with each other under the umbrella of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the health sector too.
Addressing a ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing said that medical team from his country which is visiting Pakistan would share their knowledge and expertise with their Pakistani counterparts to deal with the threat of coronavirus.
He said Pakistan is our friend and their first priority is to help Pakistan come out of this crisis. He also expressed hope that pandemic would come under control soon in Pakistan.
Yao Jing said situation in Wuhan was improving fast with life returning to normalcy and "we are also trying to replicate the same experience in Pakistan too." He said that the coronavirus had become a mammoth challenge for the entire world and unity and self-isolation were the only two ways to tackle the conundrum.
On this occasion, Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal said that China had played the role of a true friend by supporting Pakistan in the testing times of coronavirus outbreak.
He said this was the second flight carrying medical equipment from China to Islamabad. Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing handed over medical goods to the chairman NDMA.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Sunday said they had distributed the N-95 masks to all the provinces.
He said that "200,000 masks given by the Jack Ma Foundation have been given to Sindh, 75,000 to Punjab, and 50,000 each to Islamabad and Balochistan, and 15,000 masks have been given to the AJK."
Air Transport fleet of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has been assigned the responsibility to airlift medical equipment and relief goods from China to help fight COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan. In this regard, a PAF aircraft laden with 14 tons of cargo comprising ventilators, N-95 masks and protective gear landed at Nur Khan airbase on Sunday.