As Punjab retains its position as the worst-hit province with over 6,800 coronavirus infections, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar-led administration faces another challenge as patients at the Expo Field Hospital in Lahore come out in protest, complaining against the hospital’s inefficient management and testing.

A video available with The Current showed the patients bashing the government as they claimed that the services being provided at the hospital were inadequate and not up to basic health standards. They also claimed that due to the incompetence of the government officials, it could not be determined if many people at the centre even had coronavirus.

“Sometimes we test positive, sometimes negative… it is going on for over 20 days. The only people who have been allowed to leave this jail are the ones who have paid Rs8,000 to a private lab for testing.”

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They appealed to the government to take action against the staff that had made the facility a living hell for them.

Washrooms at the hospital are extremely dirty and don’t even have soap let alone sanitiser, Samaa quoted a patient as saying.

Another complained that the food provided to patients was either stale or bad. “We have complained to the government multiple times but they haven’t even acknowledged our concerns,” he added.

The patients have demanded that the government let them go home if they can’t be taken care of. Quarantining at home is better than staying here, they said, adding that living in these conditions will never pull them out of the disease.

Previously, due to similar complaints, CM Buzdar had taken notice of the hospital, however, no changes seem to have been made yet.

The provincial government had in April has set up a 1,000-bed field hospital in Expo Centre Lahore due to rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 cases.

Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid had directed setting up Triage Centre at the Expo Center Field Hospital.

Triage Centre serves as the point where patients are prioritised for different sections based on the severity of symptoms and their condition in emergencies. The government has set up a field hospital at the Expo Center where emergency arrangements have been made for COVID-19 patients.