Doctors say they have treated hundreds of patients in the eastern city of Lahore, while dozens more have been admitted to hospitals in the southern province of Sindh’s Hyderabad, Larkana and Jacobabad districts. “The situation has worsened since yesterday [Wednesday] as heatstroke patients started pouring into hospitals across Punjab province,” said Ghulam Farid, a government health official. Pakistan has set up emergency response centres at hospitals to treat heatstroke patients, and the state-run ambulance service has started delivering bottled water and ice to provide emergency treatment, officials said. Temperatures soared to 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday in the southern Sindh province city of Mohenjo Daro, which was hit by heavy monsoon rains and flooding in 2022. Temperatures are running about eight degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) above average for May over the past 20 years, raising concerns that glaciers in northern Pakistan could melt and cause flooding. The heat wave is expected to continue for at least another week, with forecasters predicting temperatures could reach 55C (131F) in parts of Pakistan later this month. Authorities have urged people to stay indoors, stay hydrated and avoid unnecessary travel, but many labourers say they have no choice but to go out to earn money to feed their families. Barakullah Khan, a civil defence official, urged people not to keep cooking gas cylinders in the open as a safety precaution. The official warned those living near agricultural fields that snakes and scorpions could enter homes and storage areas in search of cooler spaces. “Pakistan is the fifth most vulnerable country to the impacts of climate change. We have witnessed above-normal rains and flooding,” the prime minister’s climate change adviser, Rubina Khursheed Alam, told a news conference in the capital, Islamabad. The UN children’s agency’s regional director for South Asia said the organisation was “deeply concerned about the health and safety of infants and young children as debilitating heat wave conditions grip several countries”. Sanjay Wijesekera added that the rising temperatures across the region could put the health of millions of children at risk if they are not protected and hydrated. Read Also: Pakistan and Afghan Taliban send delegations to Raisi’s funeral