Nine COVID-19 patients die in Sindh as 787 more test positive

Nine people have died in Sindh, including five in Karachi, during the past 24 hours due to complications arising from COVID-19, while 787 others across the province, including 631

in the city alone, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

“Five people infected with the coronavirus have expired in Karachi, two in Hyderabad and one each at Matiari and Sukkur,” said Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in a statement issued from the CM House on Sunday.

“So far 277 people have lost their lives in Sindh, including 231 in Karachi and 19 in Hyderabad, while the remaining have died in other cities of the province.”

The chief executive said that during the past 24 hours they conducted 5,034 tests, through which 787 more people were diagnosed as COVID-19 patients, which constituted 15.6 per cent of the people tested.

He said that to date the government has conducted 122,894 tests, through which 16,377 people have been diagnosed as coronavirus patients, which constitutes 13.3 per cent of the people tested.

The CM said 451 ventilators are installed at different public hospitals across the province, of which 190 have been reserved for COVID-19 patients, adding that 31 of those machines are in use by the patients requiring life support, which shows 16 per cent utilisation of the ventilators.

“We have equipped our hospitals and coronavirus centres with the best equipment and machinery to provide quality treatment facilities to all of our patients,” said Shah.

He said that at present 11,891 patients are under treatment, of whom 10,485 are in self-isolation, 838 at isolation centres and 568 at different hospitals.

He added that 405 more people have recovered from the virus, raising the number of cured patients to 4,209, which constitutes 25.7 per cent of the total infected people.

The chief executive said nine patients could not survive COVID-19, increasing the death toll to 277, which constitutes 1.7 per cent of the total infected people. He added that 114 patients are in critical condition, of whom 31 have been put on life support.

He said that out of the 787 new patients, 515 belong to Karachi Division: 147 are residents of District East, 121 of District South, 109 of District Central, 52 of District Malir, 44 of District Korangi and 42 of District West. He also said 31 new cases have been detected in Shikarpur, 25 in Larkana, 16 in Hyderabad, 14 in Ghotki, 13 in Kambar-Shahdadkot, six in Khairpur and three in Jamshoro.