Sindh CM expresses concern over rising COVID-19 cases

KARACHI: Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah has expressed concerns over the increase in numbers of local transmission of coronavirus cases in the province.

Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah said the province has ramped up COVID-19 testing as infections rise in the province. He said the provincial health officials have conducted 7,547 COVD-19 tests in the last 24 hours against which 1,824 (24.2%) were diagnosed positive.

So far, the government has tested 200,093 samples of which 32,910 case were diagnosed positive, which translates to 16.5% of total tests conducted he said.

The chief minister, according to the statement, said that 29 more patients of COVID-19 died in the past day, bumping up the grim total to 555 — 1.6% of the total cases.

At present, 16,333 patients are under treatment in the province. Of these, 15,070 are isolating at home, 111 are at isolation centres and 1,152 at different hospitals.

“367 patients are in critical condition, of which 56 have been put on ventilators,” Murad Ali Shah said.

According to the chief minister, 487 patients recovered in the last 24 hours and “returned to their homes”. With this, the total number of recoveries reached 16,022, which constitutes 49% of cases in the province.

The chief minister said that out of 1,824 cases recorded in the past 24 hours, 1,284 belong to Karachi. This includes 323 in district East, 299 in district South, 256 in district Central, 227 in district Korangi, 120 in district Malir and 59 in district West.

Among other districts in the province, Hyderabad has 73 new cases, Ghotki 36, Shikarpur 24, Jasmhoro and Kashmore 13 each, Qambar-Shahdadkot 10, Khairpur and Dadu nine each, Mirpurkhas and Sujawal eight each, Jacobabad seven, Nawabshah and Badin four each, and Sanghar has three.

He warned citizens to be more cautious now that the lockdown has been eased further and public transport permitted on the roads.