Coronavirus kills 26 more patients but burden on hospitals lessening, says CM Murad Ali Shah

Twenty-six more people lost their lives in Sindh due to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, but the situation at hospitals across the province is improving, said the chief minister on Monday.

CM Syed Murad Ali Shah said in his daily situation report on the health emergency that 7,069 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, resulting in 546 people, or 7.7 per cent of those who were screened, being diagnosed with COVID-19.

He said the provincial government has so far conducted 649,917 tests, which have resulted in 113,553 positive cases, which means that 17.5 per cent of those screened have been found to be infected.

The chief executive said that after the latest fatalities and the death toll reaching 2,019, the mortality rate of the diagnosed people who have lost their fight with COVID-19 continues to stand at 1.8 per cent.

He said that 18,600 patients are currently under treatment: 17,824 in self-isolation at home, 64 at isolation centres and 712 at hospitals, while 535 patients are in critical condition,

of whom 75 are on life support.

Shah said that 897 more people have recovered during the past 24 hours, increasing the number of cured patients to 92,934, which shows the recovery rate has reached 81.8 per cent. He said that of Sindh’s 546 fresh cases, 179 (or 32.8 per cent) have been reported in Karachi Division: 50 of the new patients belong to District South, 38 each to East and Korangi districts, 27 to District Central, 19 to District Malir and seven to District West.

The CM said that Khairpur has reported 29 new cases, Ghotki 21, Sukkur 18, Tando Mohammad Khan 17, Sujawal and Jamshoro 15 each, Larkana and Jacobabad 13 each, Naushehroferoze 11, Umerkot and Matiari nine each, Dadu and Thatta four each, Sanghar three, and Shaheed Benazirabad and Badin one each.

He urged the people of the province to comply with the standard operating procedures devised by the government, including frequently washing one’s hands, wearing a mask while going out and observing social distance from others.