World Health Organisation (WHO) has termed Pakistan’s measures against novel coronavirus (Covid-19) threat as ‘timely’ and the ‘best national response’.

WHO’s country representative in Pakistan, Dr Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala, said “Pakistan has timely come up with one of the world’s best National Response Programmes against COVID-19 and it is being implemented very effectively. Authorities are doing their job and now it is the responsibility of the people to follow the instructions and take preventive and precautionary measures to avoid contracting the viral disease.”

The WHO Chief visited Karachi to assess the provincial government’s response to the coronavirus and to inspect isolation units set up in various hospitals.

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Dr Palitha visited the isolation ward of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), and held a meeting with Executive Director JPMC Dr Seemin Jamali.

During the meeting Dr Palitha expressed satisfaction over steps taken by JPMC for dealing with the suspected patients of COVID-19, and called for more testing facilities in the public sector in case the number of patients increased.

He also inspected the diagnostic lab during his visit to the Dow University of Health Sciences’ (DUHS) Ojha Campus and also look-over of the health facility as well as their isolation facility, and termed them ‘world class diagnostic and treatment facility’.

Later talking to media after visiting various hospitals and testing labs in Karachi, Dr Palitha said “at a time when other countries were reporting cases, Pakistan was keeping the virus at bay, which is something quite praiseworthy.”