CM Murad Ali Shah, commerce minister, secretaries, lawmakers test positive for Covid-19

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Commerce Minister Jam Ikramullah Khan Dharejo have tested positive for Covid-19, with both of them isolating themselves at home.

CM Shah said on Monday that he had felt a bit feverish on Friday, so he got himself tested for Covid-19, and the result showed that he was infected with the novel coronavirus.

He said he has isolated himself at home, adding that he has a light fever but no serious symptoms. Urging people to take the pandemic seriously, he urged them to comply with the standard operating procedures and adopt all precautionary measures because the rate of infections is on the rise.

Commerce Minister Dharejo, some of the provincial secretaries and some of the staff members of the Sindh Secretariat have also tested positive for the infectious disease.

Pakistan Peoples Party MPA and former information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon also tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday and then went into self-isolation at home.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MNA Aamir Liaquat Hussain also reported to have contracted the disease, saying that he was very sick due to the viral infection. Undergoing treatment at a private hospital, he urged people to pray for his well-being.

Virus situation

Four more people have died due to Covid-19 and another 848 cases have been reported during the past 24 hours in Sindh, with the death toll due to the viral disease reaching 2,751 in the province.

CM Shah said in his daily situation report on the health emergency on Monday that 11,596 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, resulting in 848 people, or 7.3 per cent of those who were screened, being diagnosed with Covid-19.

The provincial government has so far conducted 1,820,427 tests, which have resulted in 156,528 positive cases, which means that nine per cent of those screened have been found to be infected, he added.

Shah said that after the latest deaths, the rate of the diagnosed people who have lost their fight with Covid-19 continues to stand at two per cent.

He said that 10,525 patients are currently under treatment: 10,020 in self-isolation at home, six at isolation centres and 499 at hospitals, while 376 patients are in critical condition, of whom 37 are on life support.

He added that 545 more people have recovered during the past 24 hours, increasing the number of cured patients to 143,252, which shows a 92 per cent recovery rate.

The CM said that out of the 848 fresh cases of Sindh, 592 (or 70 per cent) have been reported in Karachi Division alone: 264 of the city’s new patients are from District East, 152 from District South, 76 from District Central, 43 from District Korangi, 31 from District Malir and 26 from District West.

As for other divisions of the province, Hyderabad has reported 81 new cases, Jamshoro 29, Sukkur and Thatta 13 each, Shaheed Benazirabad and Dadu 11 each, Tando Allah Yar nine, Shikarpur and Tando Mohammad Khan seven each, Kambar, Larkana and Matiari five each, Jacobabad and Naushehroferoze four each, Badin and Ghotki three each, Kashmore two, and Mirpurkhas and Tharparkar one each, he added.