close
Friday March 29, 2024

Sindh loses 14 more lives to COVID-19 as another 762 test positive

By Our Correspondent
May 24, 2020

Fourteen more people lost their lives to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in Sindh, majority of them residents of Karachi, while the condition of 155 patients under treatment at various hospitals is serious.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said in his daily statement on Saturday that with 14 more lives lost, the province’s novel coronavirus death toll has reached 354, adding that 34 patients are on life support at various hospitals.

Giving the details of COVID-19 patients in the province, the CM said 762 new cases have emerged after 4,336 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, of which 618 people (approximately 81 per cent) were diagnosed in Karachi alone.

Shah said the government has conducted 153,902 tests so far, which have resulted in 21,645 people being diagnosed with COVID-19, which constitutes 14 per cent of the total tests.

He said that with 14 more patients of the novel coronavirus losing their lives, the death toll has reached 354, meaning 1.7 per cent of Sindh’s COVID-19 patients have lost their battle with the deadly infection.

One hundred and fifty-five corona patients are in critical condition, while 34 of them have been put on ventilators, he added, and prayed for the early recovery of all of them.

The CM said that at present 14,078 patients are under treatment, of whom 12,424 are in self-isolation at home, 794 are at different isolation centres and 860, or 6.1 per cent, at various hospitals.

Talking about the patients declared cured on Saturday, he said 198 patients have been discharged, bringing the total number of infected people who have successfully recovered to 7,213. “Our recovery ratio stands at 33.4 per cent.”

Quoting Shah, the statement said that out of the 762 fresh cases, 618 belonged to Karachi alone. “This shows that local transmission is still happening.”

Giving the breakdown of Karachi’s cases, he said 190 of the people who tested positive were residents of District East, 115 of District South, 112 of District Central, 81 of District Malir, 76 of District Korangi and 44 of District West.

Talking about other districts of Sindh, Shah said Larkana has reported 20 fresh cases, Hyderabad and Khairpur 15 each, Shaheed Benazirabad eight, Kambar Shahdadkot three, Jacobabad and Mirpurkhas two each, and Thatta, Badin, Tharparkar and Jamshoro one each.

Regarding air travel, the CM said 28 flights between April 18 and May 5 brought home 5,051 stranded Pakistanis to Karachi, of whom 976 passengers were found to be corona-positive.

He urged the people of Sindh to stay home and avoid unnecessarily crowding markets and shopping centres. “This is in your interest, otherwise you’ll become a carrier of the virus in your family.”