China set precedent in fight against COVID-19: Dr. Zafar Mirza

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr. Zafar Mirza has expressed hope that Pakistani health professionals will learn from their Chinese counterparts to stem the tide against coronavirus.

Briefing the team of Chinese doctors at National Institute of Health in Islamabad on Sunday, he said Pakistan is highly impressed with the way Chinese government dealt with Covid-19 by putting in place appropriate measures at appropriate time to contain the severity of the killer bug.

He said spread of coronavirus and ensuing loss of life could have been very high in China, if it was not stemmed by hard efforts of Chinese health professionals.

Dr Zafar Mirza said China has written a new chapter in history of public health by putting around 60 million people under quarantine. He said world has learnt a lot from China regarding the prevention and control of communicable diseases.

Special Assistant on National Health Services expressed gratitude to China for extending cooperation to Pakistan in this difficult time in the form of supplying essential medical supplies and sharing expertise. He said cases of coronavirus in Pakistan have surpassed the figure of 1500 and not even a single case came from China. This happened due to coordination and cooperation between the governments of Pakistan and China.

Dr Zafar Mirza said the arrival of Chinese doctors is also important as Pakistan is just going to start training of healthcare professionals in critical care. He said Pakistan and China will continue cooperating with each other under the umbrella of China Pakistan Economic Corridor in the health sector too.