Coronavirus claims 13 lives as 674 more test positive in Sindh

Thirteen people, five of them women, have lost their lives due to complications of COVID-19, and another 674 have been diagnosed with the coronavirus infection in Sindh in the last 24 hours, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Saturday.

“Eight people have died in Karachi alone due to the COVID-19 infection, including four women of 51, 71, 75 and 88 years of ages, respectively. At least one died each in Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad and Larkana, while two deaths have been reported of people who were not residents of the province but tested positive for the coronavirus in Sindh," he said in his daily statement about the COVID-19 situation in the province.

The chief minister maintained that around 674 new cases of the coronavirus had emerged in the last 24 hours, including 559 in Karachi, when 4,467 samples were tested. He added that on Saturday, 15 per cent of the peopled tested were found infected with the viral ailment.

With 674 people testing positive in the last 24 hours, he said, the total number of patients had reached 15,590 across Sindh, and so far 117,860 samples had been tested.

Shah maintained that 13 more patients had died, taking the death toll to 268, which constituted a death ratio of 1.7 per cent of the total patients. He added that 119 patients were in critical condition, and 32 of them were on ventilators.

He said that at the moment 11,518 patients were under treatment. Giving their breakdown, he said 10,134 patients were in home isolation, 832 at isolation centres and 552 in hospitals. Giving good news, the chief minister said 198 patients had been cured and discharged from hospitals and isolation centers. The number of patients who had defeated the coronavirus came to 3,804, which showed a 25 per cent recovery ratio, he said. Sharing the district-wise data, Shah said Karachi was still on high alert with 559 new cases of the coronavirus. He added that District East had 123 cases, South 113, Central 66, Korangi 59, Malir 72 and West 57 cases.

Shah said that Hyderabad had 55 new cases of the coronavirus, Sukkur 11, Kambar-Shahdadkot six, Sanghar four, three each in Tando Mohammad Khan and Jacobabad, and two each in Matiari, Sujawal and Ghotki.

The CM once again urged the people to stay safe by observing social distancing and adopting other precautionary measures.