Covid kills eight more, infects another 521 in Sindh

Eight more people have died due to Covid-19 and 521 others have tested positive for the disease during the past 24 hours in Sindh, with the death toll due to the viral coronavirus infection reaching 5,418 in the province.

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said in his daily situation report on the health emergency on Sunday that 14,052 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, resulting in 521 people, or four per cent of those who were screened, being diagnosed with Covid-19.

The provincial government has so far conducted 4,469,182 tests, which have resulted in 336,059 positive cases, which means that eight 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 stands at two per cent in Sindh.

He said that 19,267 people across the province are currently infected: 18,600 are in self-isolation at home, 55 at isolation centres and 612 at hospitals, while 557 patients are in critical condition, of whom 51 are on life support.

He added that 369 more people have recovered during the past 24 hours, increasing the number of cured patients to 311,374, which shows the recovery rate to be 92.6 per cent.

The CM said that out of the 521 fresh cases of Sindh, 347 (or 67 per cent) have been reported in Karachi Division: 104 of the city’s new patients are from District East, 59 from District South, 49 from District Malir, and 45 each from the Central, West and Korangi districts.

As for the other districts of the province, Hyderabad has reported 18 new cases, Tando Muhammad Khan and Mirpurkhas 14 each, Thatta 11, Badin and Nawabshah 10 each, Naushehroferoze, Jamshoro, Kambar-Shahdadkot and Sanghar nine each, Sujawal seven, Dadu, Matiari and Tharparkar six each, Ghotki and Umerkot three each, Larkana two, and Sukkur, Kashmore-Kandhkot and Khairpur one each, he added.

The chief executive reiterated his appeal to the people of Sindh that they should comply with the standard operating procedures devised by his provincial government.

Millions of doses

Pakistan is expected to receive around 2.5 million doses of Moderna’s mRNA 1273 Covid-19 vaccine on Monday or Tuesday through Covax, while 100,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine being acquired through bilateral purchase would also reach Pakistan next week.

“The consignment of 2.5 million doses of Moderna’s mRNA 1273 Covid-19 vaccine is expected to arrive on Monday or Tuesday through Covax. Pakistan has also signed an agreement for the purchase of one million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, whose 100,000 doses are expected to reach Pakistan early next week,” an official of the National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination said on Saturday.

“We would also receive three million doses of Sinovac doses on June 29, so there would be millions of doses available to inoculate a large number of the population in the country in July,” he added.

“We have conveyed the regulatory requirements to Covax regarding the use of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine in Pakistan. According to the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, any vaccine that has emergency use authorisation from the Food & Drug Administration or the European Medicine Agency can be imported and used in Pakistan.”

Pakistan would also get at least a million doses of Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine by the end of July through Covax, said the official, adding that Covax would also provide over 12 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covishield vaccine by the end of July or early August.

“Similarly, Pakistan would acquire two million doses of Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine in July through bilateral purchase by the National Disaster Management Authority,” the official said.

He added that there would be no dearth of vaccine in the days to come in Pakistan. “Three million doses of the Sinovac vaccine from China are also landing on June 29, so in July we would have plenty of vaccine doses in the country.”