Covid kills 36 more, infects another 1,847 in Sindh

Thirty-six more people have died due to Covid-19 and 1,847 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 6,057 in the province.

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said in his daily situation report on the health emergency on Monday that 13,107 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, resulting in 1,847 people, or 14.1 per cent of those who were screened, being diagnosed with Covid-19.

The provincial government has so far conducted 5,039,917 tests, which have resulted in 387,145 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 47,986 people across the province are currently infected: 46,517 are in self-isolation at home, 35 at isolation centres and 1,434 at hospitals, while 1,250 patients are in critical condition, of whom 97 are on life support.

He added that 325 more people have recovered during the past 24 hours, increasing the number of cured patients to 333,102, which shows the recovery rate to be 86 per cent.

The CM said that out of the 1,847 fresh cases of Sindh, 1,342 (or 73 per cent) have been reported in Karachi Division: 422 of the city’s new patients are from District East, 339 from District South, 237 from District Korangi, 206 from District Central, 117 from District Malir and 21 from District West.

As for the other districts of the province, Hyderabad has reported 121 new cases, Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad 50 each, Jamshoro 34, Naushehroferoze 25, Tando Allahyar 22, Matiari 19, Badin 17, Thatta six, Khairpur, Sanghar and Umerkot two each, and Shikarpur and Tharparkar 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.

PTI’s demands

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Monday asked the provincial health department to set up Covid-19 vaccination centres at the union council level in the province to curb overcrowding at the mega vaccination centers.

In a letter written to Sindh Health Minister Azra Pacheco, PTI parliamentary leader in Sindh Assembly Bilal Ghaffar said that similar to the rest of the world, Pakistan was also in the grip of the coronavirus.

He also showed dissatisfaction with lack of implementation of SOPs at the vaccination centres at the district level.

“I strongly believe that we have to ensure the implementation of SOPs as per line of the National Command and Operation Center, and simultaneously we have to mobilise mass vaccination campaigns across the province,” he said in the letter.

He said mass vaccination was the way forward for protecting the lives and livelihoods of the residents of the province from the pandemic. “A sudden rush at vaccination centres and long queues have been witnessed, which has brought hardship to the residents of the province,” the letter said.

Ghaffar said vaccination arrangements at the designated hospitals and centres were not enough to cover the far and wide population of the mega city of Karachi.

He asked Pacheco to set up vaccination centres at the union council level to facilitate the residents and to prevent overcrowding. He said the PTI parliamentarians along with their volunteers would set up camps in their constituencies.