Ag APP
KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: As the Delta strain drove a new surge of Covid infections in Pakistan, with Sindh being a hotspot of late with more than a fourth of tests turning up positive in Karachi, the provincial authorities have banned unnecessary night-time movement.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah issued the directives to ban unnecessary movement after 6pm in a meeting of the Provincial Task Force on Tuesday after it was briefed that the Covid-19 positivity ratio in the province had reached 12.7 per cent, double the national average of 6.6 per cent.
The health secretary told the task force that there was a rising trend observed in Karachi. On July 20, Karachi had a 20 per cent detection rate, which increased to 23 per cent on July 21; 21.54 per cent on July 22; 23.46 per cent on July 24; 24.82 per cent on July 25. In the 24 hours leading to Tuesday, it was 26.32 per cent.
“This is quite a critical situation,” he said and directed the police and Commissioner Karachi to ensure timely closure of the markets, as well as tuition centres and gyms which were still operating. He urged people to stay home and avoid going out without any valid reason.
Witnessing the current Covid spike, particularly in Karachi, the Chief Minister constituted a committee to sensitise stakeholders—shopkeepers, traders, transporters and politicians—to cooperate with the government in the “supreme interest of public health”.
In another Karachi-related development, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Karachi General Secretary and MPA Saeed Afridi went into quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19, a spokesperson said.
It comes as active infections across the country rose to 59,899 after 3,262 more people tested positive as of Tuesday. Thirty-nine Covid patients died in the same period, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
Some 3,104 corona patients were admitted in hospitals, 2,722 of whom were in critical condition with 45 more admitted in a single day. Around 276 ventilators were occupied in the country. Ventilators occupancy was highest in Islamabad 34 per cent, Lahore 20 per cent, Peshawar 18 per cent and Multan 15 per cent.
The use of oxygen beds, meanwhile, was the highest in Karachi, with 48 per cent of its beds occupied. After Karachi, came Gilgit with 44 per cent, followed by Islamabad 25 per cent and Rawalpindi 24 per cent. Total cases stand at 1,011,708, while the death toll was 23,087.—