Punjab distributes thousands of grocery packs to families of quarantined patients

Residents wearing facemasks amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus buy food items from a state-run utility Store in Islamabad on March 17, 2020. (AFP)

• There are 2,024 people kept in quarantine in two centers in Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan
• A single $44 ration packet meets the needs of a six member family for 14 days

LAHORE: Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province has kicked off the distribution of a two-week grocery ration to families of 2,024 people who were quarantined amid the coronavirus pandemic in the cities of Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan, the Chief Minister’s office told Arab News on Saturday.
The decision was taken at a meeting held on Friday in Lahore, chaired by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.
“The Chief Minister has directed the PDMA (Punjab Disaster Management Authority) to provide ration and other needed material to the families of quarantined people. The assistance is being provided to 2,024 families in Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan,” Muhammad Rafiullah, public relations officer to Buzdar, told Arab News.
The ration packs, which have set the provincinal government back by over Rs. 14 million, cost Rs.7000 per pack ($44) and contain 14 necessary kitchen and food items for a family of six people. Among other things, the packs include pulses, tea leaves, dry milk, rice and sugar.
Pakistan on Saturday reported al least 650 confirmed coronavirus cases, with 96 of them in eastern Punjab province. Thousands of others suspected of having the virus are confined to quarantine facilities hurriedly set up by the provincial governments. A majority of the people who have tested positive for the virus were pilgrims who had returned from neighboring Iran, which has one of the highest numbers of cases in the world.
“Acknowledging the problems of their families, the PDMA has started distributing 14 day ration packets to their homes,” Nisar Ahmad Sani, Director Operations for PDMA, told Arab News.
The Punjab Government’s Home Department has prepared a list of affected families and authorities confirmed that 777 families in DG Khan and 1,247 families in Multan will be receiving the rations.
“Only two centers, one in Multan and the other in Dera Ghazi Khan, are operational. The government is setting up more quarantine centers in the province and the next one is planned in Taxila,” Sani said.
The Punjab government said it has established isolation centers and High Dependency Units (HDUs) in 41 hospitals in the province and a hospital with a 1,000 bed capacity is is being set up at a massive covered exhibition space, the Expo Center, in Lahore.