Punjab's health minister Dr.Yasmin Rashid held a press conference today to share the latest data of novel coronavirus infections in the province. According to her, Lahore and Rawalpindi are the two cities of Punjab most adversely affected by COVID-19 . She said:

" There are more than 12,000 COVID-19 patients in Lahore. As of now, Lahore is the epicenter of infection in the province. Second to Lahore is Rawalpindi. At the moment there are 119 critical patients in Lahore while in Pindi, the number of critical patients is 113."

She further added:

" False information is being circulated all over the media regarding the condition of the health system in Punjab. There are still ample beds and ventilators available. From now onwards, if one person tests positive for COVID-19 in Punjab- his family and friends will also be tested for the virus. Allah has been kinder to us as the number(of infection and mortality) is still lesser than what was expected. "

The Health minister's presser comes at a time when there is a lot of confusion and concern regarding the COVID-19 situation in the province, especially in Lahore, as a recent study found that there is a possibility that more than 670,000 people are infected by the virus in Lahore. This means that the actual number of infected individuals might be 20 times more than the figures provided by the government.

It is to be noted that the study was conducted by Punjab's health department before Eid ul Fitr. They conducted a total of 35,000 tests, 23,000 of which were conducted randomly. The rest were carried out using smart sampling. The exercise was carried out in different areas of Lahore, in hotspots engaged in routine activities like shops, mosques, factories, etc. Regarding this cluster testing exercise and its findings, Dr. Rashid said:

" The study was conducted by the provincial health department and was overseen by health experts. Specific methods recommended by experts were applied to make the study accurate.  The figure of 670,000 was obtained after the findings of the study were extrapolated. It's estimated that 7% of Lahore's population might be infected. So it's important that the public takes precautions and follows SOPs seriously as we can't afford total lockdown due to the grim financial situation of our country. Prevention is the only solution to this disease.