Lockdown in Karachi? Sindh CM warns of 'tough' measures if COVID-19 spreads

KARACHI: Fearing the fast spread of COVID-19 cases in the province, especially in Karachi, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah Friday warned of "tough measures" if the situation continues to worsen.

The chief minister made these remarks during a meeting of the Provincial Corona Taskforce which was held today amid a high positivity ratio as concerns of a sixth wave grow further.

Briefing the participants, Secretary Health Sindh said that cases in Karachi started to increase  from June 24 and a 19% positivity has been recorded in the last seven days.

There were 248 cases on June 24, 337 on June 26, 431 on June 28 and 465 on June 30.

During the meeting, CM Shah said if corona cases increase, the government may have to take drastic measures again. It was noted that the hospital admission rate is still low.

“Karachi has the highest number of weekly cases,” the CM said.

Meanwhile, the chief minister directed the people of Sindh to follow the SOPs and advised them to get vaccinated and get booster shots if applicable.

“Major events of Eid-ul-Adha and Muharram are near and we have to bring down the rate of COVID-19,” he said.

Daily COVID-19 report

The COVID-19 positivity ratio in the country reached a 4.5-month high at 3.93% in the last 24 hours, according to National Institute of Health, Islamabad (NIH).

This is the highest positivity ratio since February 19, when it was recorded at 4.15%.

According to the latest data from NIH, during the last 24 hours, 694 fresh COVID-19 cases were reported in the country after diagnostic testing on 17,640 samples.

As per NIH statistics, currently, 101 COVID-19 patients are being treated in different medical facilities across the country.

However, fortunately, no death was reported during the last 24 hours across the country due to the virus.