13 more fall prey to Covid-19, another 635 test positive in Sindh

Covid-19 has claimed 13 more lives in Sindh during the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 3,888 in the province while, said the chief minister in his daily coronavirus situation report on Saturday. In addition to 13 more deaths overnight , 635 new cases emerged when 6,041 tests were conducted, he added.

Shah noted that 13 more patients lost their lives over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 3,888, which constituted a 1.6 per cent death rate. A total of 6,041 samples were tested and 635 cases detected, which constituted a 10.5 per cent current detection rate in the province.

So far, 2,632,545 tests have been conducted, and 240,570 people have been diagnosed with the disease. Of them, 91 per cent or 218,688 patients have recovered, including 825 overnight.

Currently, 17,994 patients are under treatment. Of them, 17,059 are in home isolation, 13 at isolation centres and 922 at different hospitals across the province. According to the chief minister, the condition of 848 patients is stated to be critical, including 85 shifted onto ventilators.

Of the 635 new cases, 491 have been reported from Karachi: 271 from District East, 134 from District South, 33 from District Central, 22 from District West, 17 from District Malir and 14 from District Korangi.

Hyderabad saw 104 new case, Shaheed Benazirabad 13, Jamshoro, Ghotki, Larkana, Dadu and Badin two each, and Khairpur, Shikarpur, Sukkur, Tando Allahyar and Mirpurkhas one each. The chief minister urged the people of the province to follow standard operating procedures that his government had put in place to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.

Fund for vaccine

Earlier this month, the Sindh government decided to establish a Covid-19 vaccine procurement fund with an initial amount of Rs1.5 billion for the procurement of vaccines for its frontline healthcare workers.

The government said it had already started negotiating with private parties and manufacturers of the two vaccines, given emergency use authorisation in Pakistan by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP).

“Instead of waiting for the Covid-19 vaccine to be acquired by the federal government, we have decided to establish an emergency fund of Rs1.5 billion initially and procure vaccine for our frontline workers within a few weeks’ time. So far, we have 80,000 registered frontline workers, but this can go up to 125,000 in entire Sindh who are directly dealing with the Covid-19 patients,” Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho had told The News.