Since the
past two weeks, the National Center for Polio Emergency Operations in Pakistan
has been redeployed to help combat the country 's coronavirus.
Dr. Rana
Muhammad Safdar, the center's coordinator, says the program uses all its
current resources to collect and report local data on suspected cases of the
virus. The polio program has now been discontinued across Pakistan.
When asked from Dr. Safdar about how
to collect data and whether there are any differences or errors during the
collection process?
Sometimes there is a discrepancy
between the test numbers reported by the governorates and those listed on the
website of the National Ministry of Health Services. why is that?
Two things
cause a lot of confusion. First, the time for closing data collection varies in
each province. Each county has its own 24-hour schedule. But nationwide, our 24-hour
deadline is until 12 AM Every day.
The second
confusion is related to the number of tests performed and the number of
suspected patients. These are two separate numbers, and they are often
confused. Suspicious cases are now those with a history of contact with
patients confirmed with COVID-19 or who have some symptoms of the virus. During
testing, these numbers sometimes reflect the number of tests performed in each
province.
This is a problem
because some of them have not yet received laboratory results or have yet to be
tested.
The first
thing is observation. All health centers are reported across the country as
patients with possible symptoms arrive at our center. Of the cases reported,
those who need evidence are evaluated. Second, we "track
communication" to identify people who have called a confirmed patient. The
polio program already has rapid response teams on the ground in every region.
We now use these computers to track suspicious cases.
Third, and
still in its beta phase, there is a new strategy we just introduced called
"Search and Track". We use confirmed patient phone numbers and look
at who they have contacted in the past two weeks. Then we approached these
people, assuming that there was some physical contact with the patient.
The total
number of officials working in this program, if all government officials
include, ranges from 30,000 to 40,000.
According to
your data, which is the most affected and vulnerable age group?
To date, 75
percent of people diagnosed with coronavirus have been under the age of fifty.
However, the death rate is high in the age group above 50, which represents 85
per cent of all deaths so far in Pakistan.
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