Third doctor dies within a week as Covid-19 ‘returning with a vengeance’

Another senior doctor fell prey to Covid-19, third within a week, in Karachi, where 276 more people tested positive overnight when 6,551 tests were conducted, officials said on Thursday.

“Prof Syed Waqar Ahmed had been brought to Ziauddin Hospital’s Clifton Campus on October 10 with severe pneumonia, and he passed away today due to post-Covid-19 complications during treatment. He had contracted the coronavirus infection earlier and survived, but this time he succumbed to complications of the disease,” an official of the hospital said.

A thoracic surgeon and a former professor at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Prof Ahmed was a respected medical specialist among the health fraternity in Pakistan, and after retirement, he was associated with the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPSP), said Executive Director JPMC Dr Seemin Jamali.

It was the third death of a senior doctor in Karachi due to Covid-19 and its complications within a week. Earlier, Dr Muhammad Usman, an ENT specialist associated with the JPMC, and Dr Shagufta Asif had died after contracting the infectious disease in the city.

Expressing sorrow over the demise of Prof Ahmed, Dr Jamali urged the people to take precautionary measures, wear masks while meeting people, wash their hands regularly and practise social distancing, saying that the coronavirus was returning with a vengeance, especially for elderly people.

Sindh is the worst affected province due to the coronavirus in Pakistan, where the highest number of deaths has been reported, health officials said, adding that 2,591 people have lost their lives due to COVID-19 in the province while highest number of healthcare workers has also died in Sindh, especially in Karachi.

Confirming one more death due to Covid-19 in the province during the last 24 hours, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said 276 new cases had emerged over the past 24 hours when 6,551 tests were conducted, showing a 4.2 per cent detection rate.

In his daily Covid-19 situation report, Shah said that so far 1,562,125 tests had been conducted and 142,917 people had tested positive all over Sindh. Of them 95 per cent or 136,102 patients have recovered, including 343 overnight.

According to the CM, one more patient lost his life while struggling against the virus, bringing the death toll to 2,591, showing a 1.8 per cent death rate in the province.

Currently, 4,224 patients are under treatment. Of them, 3,954 were in home isolation, four at isolation centres and 266 at different hospitals.

The chief minister said that of the 276 new cases, 214 had been detected in Karachi: 86 in District East, 67 in District South, 25 in District Korangi, 20 in District Central, 11 in District Malir and five in District West.

Hyderabad reported nine cases, Mirpurkhas six, Sanghar and Sukkur three each, Tando Allahyar, Umerkot and Thatta two each, and Dadu, Larkana, Matiari, Shaheed Benazirabad and Shikarpur one each.

The chief minister urged the people to observe the standard operating procedures announced by the provincial government to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.