16 die in Sindh as active COVID-19 cases climb to 10,272

As many as 16 more people, including three women, died in Karachi due to the novel coronavirus between Tuesday and Wednesday while 731 more people were diagnosed with the viral disease in Sindh, including 625 in the city.

This was stated by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in a statement issued on Wednesday. “Three women among 16 people became the victims of COVID-19 in Sindh, all of them in Karachi, during the last 24 hours. With these deaths, the death toll due to coronavirus has reached 234. This shows that still we are facing an upsurge in infections and deaths which calls for observance of standard operating procedures [SOPs] in letter and spirit,” the CM asserted.

He maintained that 731 more cases of the novel coronavirus were diagnosed in Sindh when 4,223 samples were tested during the 24 hours. The highest number of new COVID-19 patients was from Karachi where 625 people were found infected with the contagious disease, he added.

The CM said the 731 new cases made 17.3 per cent of the 4,223 new tests. “As we are going to increase the number of tests, the more cases are to be detected,” he remarked and added that it needed collective efforts to contain the contagious disease. The health department so far has conducted 103,340 tests and diagnosed 13,341 cases in the province, which are 12.9 per cent of the total tests.

After the deaths of 16 more COVID-19 patients, the CM said the death toll of the disease in the province had risen to 234 or 1.7 per cent of the total cases. “With the grace of God, our death ratio is comparatively low and we are making efforts to control it by enforcing SOPs.”

According to the CM, 10,272 patients are currently under treatment all over Sindh. He said 8,840 patients, who constituted 86 per cent of the total patients, were in home isolation where they were being advised by doctors through phone calls, while 919 and 513 patients had been admitted to the isolation centres and different hospitals respectively.

Shah said 606 patients had recovered and returned to their home. “So far 2,835 patients had recovered and the recovery ratio stood at 21.3 per cent, which was encouraging but it needed to be improved further and this would be possible when the people would start getting themselves tested voluntarily,” he said.

Regarding the new cases in Karachi, the CM said out of 731 new coronavirus cases, Karachi had 625, of them 140 were from District East, 127 from District South, 116 from District Malir, 85 from District Central, 60 from District West and 57 from District Korangi.

He added that the experts had been pointing out that the month of May would see an upsurge in the cases of coronavirus. “We have eased the lockdown on the assurance of the traders and the people that the SOPs of social distancing, wearing of masks and avoiding crowds would be the order of the day but the results are contrary,” he remarked and went on saying that if such an attitude was not changed, we would not be able to get rid of the contagious disease.

He said the data showed that 4.6 per cent patients who could not survive the disease were between 51 and 60 years old, 8.5 per cent between 61 and 70 years old, 11.5 per cent between 71 and 80 years old and 22.5 per cent were of ages of 81 years and above.

Sharing the gender distribution of death cases, Shah disclosed that 76 per cent of them were male and 24 per cent were female.

Talking about other districts of the province, the CM said 24 new cases had been detected in Larkana, 22 in Hyderabad, 14 in Ghotki, 10 in Sukkur, eight in Kashmore-Kandhkot, seven in Shikarpur, five in Shaheed Benazirabad, four each in Sujawal and Tando Mohammad Khan, two each in Jacobabad and Naushehro Feroz, and one each in Umerkot, Khairpur, Kamber-Shahdadkot and Jamshoro districts.

Mental health helpline

The CM also launched the Sindh Mental Authority helpline 021 & 022- 111-117-642 to help and support people facing issues of mental health during the pandemic.

The CM said the helpline had been developed to meet the need of psychological crisis intervention in the light of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. “The coronavirus pandemic has caused mental stress, depression, anxiety and other psychological issues among the people,” he said and added that the people could call from anywhere in the province to the helpline to share their issues with experts and get their advice.

Earlier, Sindh Mental Health Authority Chairman Dr Karim Khuwaja briefed the CM about the helpline. “If the phone number is dialled with the 021 code, it will be connected to the Jinnah postgraduate institute and when the phone number is dialled with the 022 code, it will be connected to the Sir Cowasjee Jahangir Institute of Psychiatry, Hyderabad.”

Dr Khuwaja told the CM that in both the hospitals, leading psychiatrists will give advice to the callers. The helpline facility will be available from 8am to 3pm but the time might be extended in the future, he said.