14 more perish as Covid-19 deaths start rising in Sindh

Deaths have started rising due to the novel coronavirus in Sindh, with 14 patients losing their lives in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 4,576 in the province.

A total of 9,696 patients were under treatment in the province: 9,213 in home isolation, nine at isolation centres and 474 at hospitals. The condition of 433 patients being treated at hospitals was stated to be critical. Fifty-two were on life support.

Another 734 cases emerged when 12,659 tests were conducted on April 21, showing a 5.7 per cent detection rate, said Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in his daily Covid-19 update report on Thursday.

So far 3,524,497 tests have been conducted against which 275,814 people have been diagnosed with the disease. Of them 94.8 per cent or 261,542 patients have recovered, including 244 overnight.

The chief minister said that with 4,576 deaths reported in the province so far, the Covid-19 fatality rate stood at 1.7 per cent. Sharing the district-wise data, he said Hyderabad reported 136 new cases, Sukkur 32, Larkana 25, Shikarpur 15, Thatta and Shaheed Benazirabad 14 each, Mirpurkhas and Naushero Feroze 13 each, Sujawal 11, Badin 10, Dadu, Ghotki and Sanghar nine each, Jamshoro, Kashmore and Tando Allahyar eight each, and Tando Muhammad Khan four, Khairpur two each.

Of the 734 new cases, 383 were reported from Karachi, including 186 from District East, 97 from District South, 40 from District Central, 32 from District Korangi, 22 from District Malir and six from District West.

Shah urged the people to abide by the SOPs issued by the government to control the spread of the deadly virus.

Slow vaccination

The Sindh Assembly was informed on Wednesday that so far over 200,000 people had been vaccinated in the province against the coronavirus infection.

The information to this effect was passed to the House by Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho while responding to queries of the concerned lawmakers during the question hour of the session.

She said that the Sindh government had been ably fulfilling its obligations with regard to the vaccination drive being conducted against the deadly viral disease. She added that so far the number of the vaccinated people in the province had been less as the registration process for the purpose being conducted by the federal government had been slow.

The health minister said people had to wait to get registered for getting the vaccine against the novel coronavirus. She expressed the hope that the after Eidul Fitr, the federal government would start the vaccination drive for the people of all the age groups over 18 years of age.

She informed the PA that the provincial government’s budget contained a provision to establish 10 more chest pain units of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease in various districts of the province.

She said the Peoples’ Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI), being a non-governmental organisation, had been running the basic health units (BHUs) and dispensaries in all the districts of the province except Karachi. She assured the concerned lawmakers that she would look into those dispensaries and basic health units that had not been functioning in the Keamari area of Karachi for some years.