The US government has supplied 100 ventilators to Pakistan as a goodwill gesture. The ventilators are to be deployed to hospitals all over Pakistan, as reported by Islamabad. The first shipment arrived on July 3 and was dispatched to the hospitals. The second set which arrived on July 28 is yet to be deployed.
The US embassy in Islamabad said in a statement that the shipment was handed over to Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority as a symbol of “working together to fight COVID-19”. “The arrival of these ventilators delivers on President Donald Trump’s promise to Prime Minister Imran Khan to stand with the people of Pakistan and bring additional critically needed supplies and support to Pakistan’s urgent response to the pandemic,” the embassy said. “The United States is a proud partner with the Government of Pakistan to help stem the tide of this deadly pandemic and these ventilators will help with that fight,” US Ambassador to Pakistan Paul W Jones said.
A ventilator takes over the body’s breathing process when a disease has caused the lungs to fail. This gives the patient time to fight off the infection and recover. These ventilators are also said to solve the purpose of treating those with non-invasive respiratory therapy for patients before they become critically ill and help avoid the need for more extreme care. This means that they can be used for treating diseases other than COVID-19 as well.
Meanwhile, Pakistan currently has 6000 deaths and over 2,77,000 cases of coronavirus.