Pakistan is now capable of conducting 30,000 to 40,000 coronavirus tests per day and our medical facilities will be doing that in the coming days, said National Disaster Management Authority Chairman Lieutenant General Muhammad Afzal.
The NDMA chairman held a press conference with National Disaster Risk Management Fund CEO Lieutenant General (retd) Nadeem Ahmed on Monday.
Lieutenant General Afzal said medical equipment was mainly brought from China. This equipment includes ventilators, x-ray machines and personal protective equipment for front-line doctors and paramedics. He confirmed that more equipment will be brought soon.
The NDRMF CEO then spoke about the funds that have been received to fight the novel coronavirus and how they’ll be spent.
“The Asian Development Bank will fund us an additional $105 million that will be used to buy more medical equipment,” said Lieutenant General (retd) Ahmed.
“Moreover, we’ll use the $60 million that the World Bank is giving us to create employment opportunities and make up for some of the socio-economic deprivation.”
He added that a France-based bank will also loan Pakistan around $40 million that could be used to equip the country efficiently against the spiking COVID-19 cases.
