30 die of COVID-19 in Karachi in 24 hours

As many as 31 more COVID-19 patients died in the past 24 hours in Sindh, of whom 30 were from Karachi, which is the highest death toll figure since March 19 when the first death due to the viral disease was reported. The total number of deaths in Sindh due to COVID-19 has reached 427.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said this on Friday in his daily statement on the COVID-19 situation in the province. “Today is another sad and unfortunate day when we have lost 31 people due to COVID-19 in the province. They include men and women and a majority of them were elderly people. Most of the deaths occurred in Karachi, where the largest number of patients with coronavirus have so far been diagnosed,” the CM said.

He maintained that between Thursday and Friday, 804 people in Sindh tested positive for COVID-19, of whom 634 were from Karachi. He added that the total number of people infected with the contagious disease in the province had reached 26,113.

“I am saddened today to see the deaths of 31 patients,” he said as he prayed for the departed souls and offered condolences to the bereaved families.

The CM explained that the new 804 cases had emerged after 3,316 new tests. The government had so far conducted 171,222 tests that detected a total of 26,113 cases, he added. “We can control further spread of the virus if we all adopt precautionary measures but sorry to say the situation is disappointing. Our people are not cooperating.”

Shah, however, also had some good news to offer. He said another 1,563 COVID-19 patients had recovered. “This is again the highest number of patients cured within overnight and now the number of patients recovered so far has reached to 12,750, who constitute 49 per cent,” he explained.

The recovery ratio in Sindh had been encouraging, Shah said and expressed the hope that it would improve further. About the 12,936 patients who are currently suffering from COVID-19 in Sindh, the CM said 11,902 of them were in home isolation. He stated that 305 patients were in a critical state, of whom 52 had been put on ventilators.

According to Shah, of the 804 new cases, 634 belonged to Karachi. They included 140 from District Korangi, 132 from District East, 117 from District South, 79 from District Central, 68 from District Malir and 61 from District West.

About the rest of Sindh, he said 37 new cases had been recorded in Hyderabad, 24 in Ghotki, 23 in Larkana, 10 each in Jacobabad and Jamshoro, seven each in Shikarpur and Badin, four in Dadu, three in Umerkot, two in Sanghar, and one each in Kashmore, Khairpur, Matiari, Shaheed Benazirabad and Tando Allahyar districts.