Coronavirus claims four more lives in Sindh, 170 patients in critical condition

A total of four people died of the novel coronavirus infection in Sindh between Thursday and Friday with 959 new cases of the contagious disease diagnosed. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said this on Friday in his daily statement regarding the COVID-19 situation in the province.

“Today we have lost four lives in the province due to coronavirus while 959 new cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed during the last 24 hours,” he said, adding that the condition of 170 patients, who were undergoing treatment at various health facilities, was critical and 41 patients of them had been put on life-support at various hospitals.

The CM explained that around 6,023 COVID-19 tests were conducted at various public and private laboratories in the province during the last 24 hours, of which 959 or 16 per cent of the total turned out to be positive.

Shah maintained that with four more deaths due to COVID-19 in Sindh, the provincial death toll of the viral disease had reached 340, which was 1.6 per cent of the total patients. Sharing details of the 13,528 patients of COVID-19 in Sindh at present, he said 11,895 of them were in home isolation, 797 at the isolation centres and 836 were under treatment in different hospitals.

He added that 690 patients were also cured during the last 24 hours, after which the number of the recovered patients had reached 7,015 and the recovery ratio had been recorded at 34 per cent.

Sharing district-wise details of the new cases, Shah said that of the 959 cases, 668 belonged to Karachi, of whom 253 were from District East, 114 from District South, 103 from District Korangi, 103 from District Central, 70 from District West and 25 from District Malir.

In the rest of Sindh, he said 25 new cases had been detected in Ghotki, 14 in Sukkur, 13 in Thatta, 10 in Shikarpur, nine in Larkana, seven in Hyderabad, six in Jamshoro, five in Kamber-Shahdadkot, three each in Khairpur and Shaheed Benazirabad, two in Sanghar, and one each in Sujawal, Umerkot, Matiari, Dadu and Badin districts.

The daily count of COVID-19 deaths in the province witnessed a drop on Friday than the previous day as the CM on Thursday had confirmed 20 deaths, of which 16 had occurred in Karachi.

The CM on Thursday had also urged the people of Pakistan, especially those of Sindh, to celebrate Eidul Fitr with simplicity and demonstrate solidarity with the COVID-19 patients, the families of those who have lost their lives and the poor, saying that 336 people, including seven doctors, had lost their lives due to the novel coronavirus in the province.

“We are passing through a very critical phase of the pandemic, which is unprecedented in recent history, so I am of the view that we all should celebrate Eid with simplicity, and I would request the prime minister to announce the celebration of Eid with simplicity on national level,” the CM had said while addressing a news conference in the auditorium of the Sindh Assembly building.

He was accompanied by provincial ministers Dr Azra Pechuho, Saeed Ghani and Nasir Shah, MNA Agha Rafiullah, and CM’s adviser and Sindh government spokesman Barrister Murtaza Wahab.

The chief executive said he was dedicating the upcoming Eid to the front-line workers – doctors, nurses, paramedics, sanitary workers, police, Rangers and revenue department officials – who were selflessly fighting against the virus to save the lives of others.

“This is a matchless service. We have lost seven doctors and five policemen, and 20 Rangers officials have also been infected,” he said. Paying rich tributes to front-line workers, the CM said 364 officials of the health department have been infected with the virus, of them 27 have recovered and seven have died while saving the lives of patients.

He also shared their names with the media: Dr Abdul Qadir Soomro, Dr Abdul Haq, Dr Zubaida Siraj, Dr Furqan Ul Haq, Dr Asar Ibrahim, Dr M Basheer Qasim and Dr Nawaz Gahouti. He added that 274 policemen were infected with the coronavirus, of them 59 have recovered while five have succumbed to the virus.

They were Hanif, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Anis, ASI Sher Gul Khan, ASI Mohammad Anwar and Head Constable Abdul Aziz. He also paid them rich tributes. Talking about the Rangers, the CM said their 20 officials have been infected and prayed for their early recovery.