The authorities in Pakistan's Punjab Province have warned of severe health risks amid an intense heatwave in its southern districts, urging people to take precautions and avoid going outdoors during hottest hours.
According to the Ministry of Climate Change, the ongoing heatwave, which has caused school shutdowns and extended hospital hours, is expected to go on until June 20.
In Multan City, the mercury has reached the 47 degrees Celsius mark, a temperature that people can get heatstroke within three to four seconds of exposure to the sun.
The Nishtar Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in Multan, has been seeing rising number of heatwave patients these days.
It has set up a special desk for the heatwave patients, with an emergency room operating around the clock to treat patients of dehydration, diarrhea and other heat-related diseases.
"These days the temperature is rising already, it's almost touching 48 and 47, so the patients are coming with minor symptoms. During summer, we face two things, one is the heatwave, the other is the diarrhea season, both basically cause for dehydration and the losses and everything," said Dr. Farooq Ahmad, medical superintendent of the Nishtar Hospital.
"It's really tough. I try to stay indoors during the hottest part of the day and drink lots of water," said a patient.
"I've been feeling dizzy and tired. It's hard to keep up with my daily activities in this heat. I'm a motor mechanic, my job is very tough," said another patient.
Health professionals are urging people to take special care during the heatwave by drinking plenty of water, avoiding strenuous activities during peak heat hours, wearing lightweight clothing, and using fans or air conditioning when possible.
"We try our best to inform people about the dangers of heatstroke. We tell them to look after themselves and not to leave their homes unnecessarily," said Dr. Hafiz Ayub Qazi, deputy superintendent of the Nishtar Hospital.
Pakistan's Punjab province warns public of heatwave-related diseases, dangers
China's investment in fixed assets maintained steady growth in the first five months of 2024, accompanied by ongoing optimization of the investment structure, an official from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) told a press conference in Beijing on Monday.
Driven by the advancements in high-end, smart, and green manufacturing, investment in the manufacturing sector has posted strong growth momentum since the beginning of the year, according to the NBS,.
From January to May, investment in the manufacturing sector grew by 9.6 percent year on year, 5.6 percentage points faster than that of the total investment and contributing 57.3 percent to the growth of the total investment.
Notably, investment in high-tech industries has continued to expand, while investment in equipment upgrading and technological transformation has experienced accelerated growth.
"With the robust support of policies for large-scale upgrading of equipment, investment in the purchase of machinery and equipment showed a good growth momentum. In the January-May period, such investment increased by 17.5 percent year on year, outpacing the growth in the January-April period by 0.3 percentage points. Besides, there has been an accelerated pace of transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. During the same period, investment in technology transformation in the manufacturing sector grew by 10 percent year on year, marking a 1.5-percentage-point acceleration," said NBS spokeswoman Liu Aihua.
In addition, investment in major projects played a crucial role during the first five months, with completed investments in projects each with a planned total investment of 100 million yuan or more recording a year-on-year growth of 8.5 percent, driving a 4.6-percentage-point rise in the nation's total investment.
Looking ahead, China has broad space to increase effective investment and has huge investment potential in aspects such as innovation-driven development, transformation and upgrading, green transition, and people's livelihood, said the official.
China's investment in fixed assets grows steadily in Jan-May period
