Sindh’s COVID-19 death toll crosses 1,000 mark as 49 more die in a single day

As many as 49 people lost their lives in Sindh due to COVID-19 during the last 24 hours, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Friday, adding that now the death toll due to the viral disease in the province had crossed the 1,000 mark and stood at 1,013.

“We have witnessed the highest number of deaths in a single day during the last 24 hours when 49 people died in the province since yesterday. Most of these people lost their lives in Karachi alone. Now the death toll due to COVID-19 is 1,013 in the province,” he said in his daily situation report.

The chief minister maintained that as many as 2,894 people tested positive for the coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours in Sindh, which was the highest number of people getting infected in a single day. He added that now the total number infected people in Sindh had reached at 65,163.

He said 13,642 tests, the highest in Pakistan, were conducted overnight against which 2,894 cases were detected that constituted a 21.2 per cent detection rate. So far 354,129 samples have been tested, which diagnosed 65,163 cases.

The chief minister said 49 more patients lost their lives while struggling against the virus in the past 24 hours. “Within the last 48 hours, we have lost 97 valuable lives due to the coronavirus,” he said and added that the situation was quite serious and painful.

He said that so far 1,013 patients had died and constituted 1.55 per cent death rate. He said 73 per cent of patients who died were with comorbidities and 75 per cent were of more than 50 years of age.

At present 31,425 patients are under treatment, and of them 29,818 are in home isolation, 64 at isolation centres and 1,543 at different hospitals. As many as 673 patients are in a critical condition, and 113 have been put on ventilators.

The chief minister said that 1,691 more patients had recovered and discharged toward normal life. The number of patients who have recovered so has reached to 32,725, showing a 50.3 per cent recovery rate.

Giving a district-wise breakdown, the chief minister said that out of the 2,894 new cases, 1,626 belonged to Karachi. They included 471 reported in District East, 413 in South, 255 in Central, 213 in Malir, 150 in Korangi and 124 West.

He said that Khairpur reported 164 new cases, Hyderabad 64, Jamshoro 62, Ghotki 45, Sukkur 30, Larkana 29, Thatta 26, Naushehroferoze 22, Sanghar 18, Shaheed Benazirabad 17, Dadu 16, Shikarpur nine, Jacobabad and Kashmore seven cases each, Umerkot , Matiari and Mirpurkhas six cases each, Badin, Tando Allahyar and Tando Mohammad Khan three cases each, and Kambar and Sujawal two cases each.

The chief minister maintained that he had ramped up testing capacity and it was the highest in Pakistan. “We have made all-out efforts to strengthen our health delivery system, and I am sure it will serve the people of the province,” he said.

He said that they had established 20 labs in 10 districts which were working day and night to test samples. “We have enhanced our testing capacity by 110 times, which itself is a record and a manifestation of our commitment with the people of Sindh.”

Shah said that the hospitalisation number of coronavirus patients had increased by 11 times now than what it had been 22 days ago. He added that the number of critical patients had also grown 22 times in as many days.

Paying rich tribute to healthcare staff, the CM said that all over Pakistan 46 doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, had lost their lives while serving the coronavirus patients, and 17 of them died in Sindh. “I salute them for their selfless services to the people of Pakistan, particularly of Sindh, at this critical juncture of pandemic.”

He further said that keeping in view the safety of our people a selective lockdown had been imposed in different areas of different districts of the province. “I would request the people of the province to cooperate with the administration in appropriate imposition of the lockdown,” he said and added that “this is all for the safety of our people”.