Covid positivity rate jumps to 20pc in Karachi with 1,314 new cases

The positivity rate of Covid-19 cases reached up to 20.34 per cent in Karachi on Friday where 1,314 people tested positive for the infectious disease with 867 patients hospitalised at various health facilities, of whom 562 were on high flow oxygen and 177 on low flow oxygen.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah shared the information to this effect on Friday. He said another 25 people died of Covid-19 in Sindh during the previous 24 hours, raising the death toll to 5,697 in the province. In the meantime, 931 patients of Covid-19 were under treatment at different hospitals of the province, of whom the condition of 857 was said to be critical and 52 of them were on life support.

In addition to 25 more deaths, 1,631 new cases of Covid-19 emerged during the previous 24 hours after the results of 18,075 tests were obtained, the CM stated. He added that the fatality rate of the disease remained at 1.6 per cent in Sindh.

Shah said the diagnosis of 1,631 cases against 18,075 samples constituted a 9 per cent current detection rate. He added that so far 4,760,327 tests for Covid-19 had been conducted in Sindh, against which 354,086 cases were diagnosed, of which 90.4 per cent cases or 319,826 patients had recovered, including 381 during the previous 24 hours.

He explained that there were currently 28,563 patients of Covid-19 in the province, of whom 27,562 were in home isolation, 931 at different hospitals and 70 in isolation centers.

Of the 1,314 new cases detected in Karachi, 356 belonged to District East, 287 to District Central, 251 to District Korangi, 190 to District South, 122 to District Malir and 108 to District West.

In the rest of Sindh, Hyderabad had 52 new cases, Naushehro Feroz 26, Dadu 22, Thatta 21, Tando Allahyar 16, Jamshoro 15, Shaheed Benazirabad and Badin 14 each, Mirpurkhas, Sujawal and Tharparkar 10 each, Umerkot eight, Matiari seven, Tando Muhammad Khan four, Kashmore and Sanghar two each, and Ghotki, Khairpur and Larkana had one new

case each.

Shah urged the people of Sindh to abide by the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the government in order to help contain the spread of the contagious disease.

As the number of Covid-19 cases continue to sharply rise in Sindh, the provincial government has started to impose restrictions on public gatherings. The provincial home department on Wednesday issued a notification, through which the provincial authorities ordered the closure of schools, parks, beaches and cinemas until July 31.

The notification reads: “In continuation and in partial modification of the home department’s orders of even number dated February 7, 2021 and July 9, 2021 (three orders), and in pursuance of the decisions taken in the Provincial Task Force on Covid-19 meeting held on July 14, 2021 to review the Covid-19 disease pattern, the Government of Sindh, in exercise of the powers under Section 3(1) of the Sindh Epidemic Diseases Act, 2014 (The Sindh Act VIII of 2015), is pleased to issue the following order for enforcement within the territorial jurisdiction of the province of Sindh.

“Indoor dining in all restaurants, hotels and cafes will remain closed from July 15, 2021 onwards, schools for students of classes I to VIII will remain closed from July 17, 2021. The teaching and non-teaching staff will, however, be present in their respective schools. “Examinations for classes IX to XII will be conducted as per the schedule already issued by the respective educational boards under strict observance of the SOPs [standard operating procedures]. “Theme parks, amusement parks, water parks and swimming pools will remain closed from Friday onwards. Indoor gyms and indoor sports will also remain closed from Friday onwards.

“Public transport will operate with 50 per cent occupancy from July 15, 2021 onwards, and there is a complete ban on inland tourism, especially on visiting Seaview, other beaches, Hawkesbay, Keenjhar Lake, Al Manzar, Lab-e-Mehran. Moreover, cinemas will remain closed from July 15, 2021 onwards. In view of regular review and assessment at the level of NCOC [National Command & Operation Centre] and the provincial task force, these directions will be in force until July 31, 2021.”