A review of covid 19 pandemic in physiotherapy care of patients with coronavirus disease in pakistan: Limitations and gaps

ABSTRACT

Background: The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread to more than 213 countries. Globally as of 208 pm CEST, April 12, 2021, there have been 136, 696, 092 confirmed cases including 2,950,823 deaths and 109,945,653 cases have been recovered, reported to WHO. As of April 07, 2021, a total of 669,248,795 vaccine doses have been administered. Methods: We examined current state of COVID-19 epidemic and preparedness in Pakistan using publicly available data and documents on COVID-19 government dashboard. Results: Pakistan reported its first 2 confirmed cases, on 26th February 2020 linked to travel history of Iran. The number of confirmed cases nationwide rose to 725,602 with 39,511 confirmed cases in Punjab, 6,792 cases in Sindh,13,092 cases in Khyber Pathunkhawa, 731 cases in Baluchistan, 105 cases in Gilgit Baltistan,12,865 cases in ICT and 2,170 in Azad Jammu Kashmir. To-date 7000 Pakistani pilgrims have returned from Iran and placed in quarantine in Taftan. Directing of pilgrims back to their cities without testing at the border resulted in introduction of virus in country. Pakistan"s weak health care system with 10 beds for 1000 people and less than 0.75% of GDP as health spending is doubtful to bear the COVID-19 shock in case of exponential increase in cases. Conclusion: It was observed that the professional requirements as laid out by WHO for COVID-19 patients care and management were not strictly followed by the paramedic staff specifically and Medical Professionals generally. The use of PPEs and respirators (N-95) was next to non-existent among the paramedic staff. The doctors were only partially following the patient management protocol to reduce risk of self and others. This gross management has resulted in an exaggerated number of cases among the staff of the hospitals.