Pharmacists in Karachi risk contracting COVID-19

By Muhammad YaseenPublished On 27 Dec 2022

At the seaside Clifton area of Karachi, Ghulam Mustafa working at a busy pharmacy is dealing with a crowd of customers, with meagre protection, wearing ordinary masks and gloves provided by the owner.

A few of his customers have prescriptions, while others are simply calling out the brand name of the medicines they require. The situation in other shops is no different. They are equally crowded.

Apart from health workers, those working in pharmacies in Pakistan are believed to be potential targets of the coronavirus pandemic.

"It is getting stressful with every passing day, especially when you hear about a doctor or a nurse being infected," Mustafa, 32, told Anadolu Agency as he kept picking medicines simultaneously.

He is facing this situation every day since the coronavirus outbreak struck the country. Thousands of pharmacists along with medical professionals across the country are working day and night to save lives.

Apart from hospitals, pharmacies are the only service that have been operating across the city round the clock after the lockdown was enforced, which has brought normal life to a standstill.

"They [medical professionals] are taking all possible precautions, including special suits and masks. But still, they are getting infected," said Mustafa.

He said those working in pharmacies are equally vulnerable to the Covid-19.

“We face more people compared to what they [medical professionals] do each day,“ he added.

The number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan rose to 6,217 on Wednesday, with 113 confirmed deaths.