Do not assume COVID-19 is over and done with, warns Murtaza Wahab

Barrister Murtaza Wahab said on Tuesday that with the cooperation of the people, the Sindh government had been successful in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the province, but he warned that it would be wrong to assume that the disease had been defeated.

Wahab, who is the spokesman for the Government of Sindh and an adviser to the chief minister of the province, made these remarks while addressing a news conference. He said that until Tuesday Sindh had reported 113,000 cases of the novel coronavirus infection, adding that the figure was more than that of the other provinces because Sindh had conducted more COVID-19 tests than any other province.

The spokesman said Sindh had carried out some 450,000 coronavirus tests, while Punjab, despite having a much larger population than that of Sindh, had conducted only 400,000 tests.

He dismissed the claims of the spokespersons of the federal government that the higher number of COVID-19 patients in Sindh was because of the wrong policies of the provincial government.

He said the recovery rate of Sindh’s COVID-19 patients was much better than that of the other provinces. He pointed out that 82 per cent of Sindh’s coronavirus patients had recovered, while a lower percentage of cured patients had been observed in the other provinces.

The adviser said that the statistics had clearly proved that the Sindh government’s strategy to tackle the COVID-19 emergency had been and continued to be effective. He said that the statistics also showed that the people of Sindh had lend their support to their provincial government in its measures against the spread of the deadly infectious disease.

Wahab, however, warned that it was wrong to assume that the coronavirus emergency had come to an end in the province because new cases of the fatal viral disease were still being reported.

He said the Sindh government’s health department had been conducting COVID-19 tests free of charge, so the people who had been showing any of the symptoms of the infectious disease should get themselves screened.

He appealed to the people to remain on alert at all times because any carelessness could once more increase the rate of infection in the province. He made the assurance that the Sindh government would formulate and adopt more piece of legislation on the issue of the present health emergency.