214 more patients recovered from coronavirus disease: Sindh Chief Minister

Karachi, May 03, 2020 (PPI-OT): Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah informed on Sunday that 214 more patients had recovered from coronavirus disease and returned to their homes while 363 new virus-positive cases emerged between Saturday and Sunday. “This is for the first time that the recovery ratio seems to be encouraging, but more local spread cases are still on the rise,” he said in a statement issued from the CM House.

Disclosing daily bulletin of coronavirus, the chief minister said that 3,032 tests were conducted against which 363 new cases or 11.9 percent of the tests were diagnosed as positive. The health department has tested 64,052 samples so far and detected 7,465 cases which constitute 11.7 percent cases of the total tests, he said.

Shah said that eight patients succumbed to the virus taking the death toll to 130 which was 1.7 percent of the total patients. “This shows that our recovery ratio is comparatively better,” he said. The chief minister said that 5,780 patients were under treatment, including 4,638 in home isolation, 615 at Isolation centers and 527 at different hospitals. He added that 76 patients were in critical condition and of them, 17 were on ventilators.

Sharing the data of Karachi, Shah said that out of 363 cases, 231 belonged to the city. He added that 67 cases had been detected in district East, 55 South, 45 Central, 28 West, 21 Korangi and 15 Malir. He said that Larkana and Ghotki had produced more cases of local transmission. He disclosed that Larkana had 30 cases, Ghotki 21, Hyderabad 13, Shaheed Benazirabad 13, Khairpur 10, Jacobabad nine, Sukkur eight, Matiari 2 and Dadu one.

The chief minister said that the local spread was quite worrisome. “We have tried to contain it, but people do not care, violate SOPs and ignore social distancing,” he said and concluded that the epidemic could be defeated when everyone would take the responsibility of securing himself and his family.

For more information, contact:
Press Secretary,
Chief Minister House, Sindh
Tel: +92-21-99202019(Ext: 336)
Website: www.cmsindh.gov.pk

662 new coronavirus cases emerge in Sindh, six died: Sindh Chief Minister

Karachi, May 01, 2020 (PPI-OT): Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said Friday that in Sindh, 662 new coronavirus cases had been diagnosed while six more virus-infected people have lost their lives, taking the virus disease death toll 118 or 1.76 percent so far in the province since the outbreak of the disease. This he said in his message released from the CM House. The chief minister said that 3,384 tests had been conducted for the virus during the last 24 hours against which 622 new cases emerged. He added that so far, 57,761 samples had been tested against which 6,675 cases emerged as coronavirus positive.

Shah said that six patients lost their lives while struggling against the virus. “So far the number of deaths had reached 118 which constitutes 1.76 percent of the total patients. “At present, 5,262 patients are under treatment, of them 4044 or 77 percent are at home isolation, 733 at isolation centers and 485 at different hospitals,” he said and added 45 patients were in critical condition while 16 of them are on ventilators.

Giving the details of the stranded Pakistanis, the chief minister said that 483 landed at Jinnah Terminal by three flights, each one from Dubai, Sharjah and Colombo. He added that 190 passengers were diagnosed as coronavirus positive when tested. Shah said that out of 190 positive cases, 92 belonged to Sindh, 56 to Punjab, 24 to KPK, and 18 to Balochistan.

Sharing the data of Karachi, the chief minister said that 4,46 cases had been reported in Karachi, including 173 in Malir with 190 of stranded Pakistanis, 92 East, 70 South, 56 Central, 33 West and 22 in Korangi. Shah said that 17 cases had been diagnosed in Ghotki, 19 Hyderabad, 11 Jacobabad, 23 Larkana, 15 Shikarpur and six Sukkur.

Shah said that the health department people, particularly doctors, paramedical staff and technicians handling lab tests were providing selfless service. He paid them rich tribute and urged everyone to respect them and salute them. He said that the virus was spreading day by day, therefore, extra precautionary measures must be taken all over Sindh. The chief minister prayed for the early recovery of all the patients under treatment.

For more information, contact:
Press Secretary,
Chief Minister House, Sindh
Tel: +92-21-99202019(Ext: 336)
Website: www.cmsindh.gov.pk

Sindh Chief Minister worries as 12 more coronavirus patients died in Sindh

Karachi, April 30, 2020 (PPI-OT): Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Thursday that 12 patients of coronavirus had lost their lives in Sindh during the last 24 hours. “This is the first-ever highest number of deaths in Sindh province since March 19. We have 112 deaths in 34 days that means more than three patients succumbed to the virus per day; this is quite a worrisome situation,” he said in a statement issued from the CM House today.

The chief minister said that the number of coronavirus positive cases in Sindh had reached 6,053 which was 11.1 percent of total 5,4377 tests conducted so far while the number of new cases was 358 out of which 284 belonged to Karachi while District South had the highest number of 72, East 62, West 58, Orangi 32, and Malir 15. “This is not a normal situation,” he observed.

Shah said that the areas of district South where coronavirus had affected badly include Bihar Colony with 24 cases, Allama Iqbal area 14 cases, Agra Taj 11, Chakiwara eight, Gazdarabad 31, Khada Memon Society three, Nanakwara 15, Civil Line 12, Karachi Cantonment 14, Clifton 30, CCB-1 13, CCB-2 10, CCB-3 50 and CCB-4 11.

He said that Shikarpur had 34 new cases, Dadu six, Hyderabad five, Sanghar four, Sukkur three, Jacobabad two while Thatta, Jamshoro, Matiari and Naushehro Feroze has one case each. Giving frequency by age of deaths, the chief minister said that 43 victims were between 60 to 69 years of age, 27 between 70 plus, 26 between 50 to 59 and nine between 40 to 49. He added that 73 percent of patients who died due to coronavirus were male and the others were female. The chief minister said that the virus had spread all over Sindh and now the worst affected districts of local spread was Shikarpur where 34 new cases had been detected.

For more information, contact:
Press Secretary,
Chief Minister House, Sindh
Tel: +92-21-99202019(Ext: 336)
Website: www.cmsindh.gov.pk

Eight more die of coronavirus in Sindh, taking the virus death toll to 100: Sindh Chief Minister

Karachi, April 29, 2020 (PPI-OT): Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said Wednesday that for the first time, 404 new cases of coronavirus had been diagnosed as positive and eight patients died during the last 24 hours, taking the viral disease death toll to three digits, 100 across Sindh.

“This is a very serious situation because we are detecting more cases and taking more bodies though the 20.5 percent recovery ratio is encouraging, but we have to save the lives of our people,” he disclosed in his regular video message in which he unfolds the coronavirus situation in the Sindh province.

The chief minister said that 404 new cases emerged as positive from 3,729 tests. “This is quite worrisome that out of 404 cases, 332 belong to Karachi,” he said and added “Karachi is on the increase in terms of new cases and deaths of the patients.” Shah said that so far, the government has conducted 51,790 tests against which the number of cases detected came to 5695. “The 404 new cases constitute 10.8 percent of 3,729 tests conducted during the last 24 hours,” he said.

The chief minister said that 4,426 patients were under treatment, including 3,187 or 72 percent in home isolation, 762 or 17 percent at isolation centres, and 477 or 11 percent at different hospitals. “Our 54 patients are in critical condition, of them, 18 are on ventilator,” he disclosed. He said that 208 patients had recovered from the infection of the coronavirus and returned to their homes added that overall recovery stood at 1,169 patients or 20.5 percent.

Karachi situation: In Karachi division, the chief minister said that 332 new cases had been reported. Sharing the district-wise details, he said that South had 113 new cases, East 100, Central 39, Korangi 37, West 26, and Malir 17. “I want to request the people of Karachi to adopt precautionary measures, including wearing the masks, keeping at a distance from children and elderly people, avoid going out of home unnecessarily, otherwise, results would be horrible,” he said.

Situation in other dists: The chief minister, sharing the data of other districts, said that 14 new cases had been diagnosed as positive in Sukkur, 13 each in Khairpur and Larkana, seven each in Shaheed Benazirabad and Shikarpur. Shah said that the local spread in rural areas is also increasing. “We will not be able to defeat the novel virus unless our people will cooperate,” he said.

Flight to Karachi: The chief minister said that two flights from Kuala Lumpur and Abu Dhabi had brought back 505 stranded Pakistan to Karachi. “They all were tested, as a result, 69 of them were diagnosed as positive and 39 results are yet to come,” he disclosed. He added out of 69 COVID-19 positive cases, 22 belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 21 to Sindh, 19 Punjab, five Balochistan, and two Azad Kashmir.

Shah said that the testing capacity of the lab operating in Sindh was being enhanced and a new lab at Larkana was being established. Shah said that some industrial units and online businesses had been allowed to operate, but they would have to follow the SOP. “We have to secure ourselves and others also,” he said.

For more information, contact:
Press Secretary,
Chief Minister House, Sindh
Tel: +92-21-99202019(Ext: 336)
Website: www.cmsindh.gov.pk

Coronavirus cases in Sindh hits high with 383 new patients: Sindh Chief Minister

Karachi, April 26, 2020 (PPI-OT): Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Sunday that 383 new cases of coronavirus had been detected during the last 24 hours in the Sindh province, which was the first highest figures of last 61 days of coronavirus cases since February 26 to April 26.

In his video message, the chief minister disclosed that 3,028 tests were conducted against which 383 new cases, including 301 cases in Karachi, were detected which constituted 12 percent of the tests. “This is the highest figure ever reported during the 61 days COVID-19 emergency,” he said and added: “This shows the situation is going from bad to worse and we would have to take some extraordinary measures.”

He said that so far, 4,1216 tests had been conducted against which 4,615 cases or 11.2 percent had been diagnosed as coronavirus positive. Shah also said that three more patients died due to coronavirus infection and lifted the death toll to 81 or 1.8 percent of the total patients. He added that at present, 3,662 patients were under treatment, of them, 2,432 are in home isolation, 767 at isolation centers and 463 in different hospitals.

The chief minister said that 41 patients were in critical condition and 12 of them were on ventilators. “The doctors were struggling to save their lives,” he said. He added that 70 patients had recovered and were discharge for their homes. “Our 872 or 18.9 percent patients have recovered so far,” he said. Karachi: The Sindh chief minister said that Karachi was the worst affected division of the province with 301 new cases.

He added that Central had 594 cases with 99 new, district East has 676 cases including 66 new, Korangi has 318 cases with 26 new cases, Malir has 272 cases with 10 new, South has 895 cases with 80 cases and West has 322 cases with 20 new cases. He said that the province of Sindh had 4,615 cases, of them, 3,077 were in Karachi. “This is a serious situation,” he said and added he would have to establish more field hospitals/isolation centers.

Two flights land: Shah said that that two more flights from Malaysia and Dubai had landed in Karachi. He added that both the flights had brought 505 stranded Pakistanis and all of them had been kept in quarantine. He said that the health department had started collecting their samples to test them and by Monday, their results would come out.

Another meeting: The chief minister just after going through the coronavirus situation report, he called another meeting of health department which was attended by provincial ministers, chief secretary, commissioner Karachi and deputy commissioners.

The chief minister said that the number of new patients was increasing day by day, therefore, the government would have to enhance bed capacity of isolation Centers by enhancing the capacity of the exiting field offices and establishing new centers. Shah directed Commissioner Karachi to prepare a plan to enhance the capacity of Expo Center Field Hospital from 12:00 noon to 15:00 pm. He also issued a directive for setting up isolation center at PAF Museum Convention Center, Dalmia ground, Darul Ehsaas Manghopir and other areas.

The chief minister assigned the task of exploring other empty buildings and ground to Chairman P and D Mohammad Waseem where isolation centers/field hospitals could be established. He said that the target set for setting up of 10,000-bedded facilities should be achieved. He also directed the chief to keep reviewing the requirement of doctors and paramedical staff for the proposed facilities.

Video-link meeting: Presiding over a meeting of divisions and districts, other than Karachi he reviewed the sampling methods, availability of testing kits and directed them to start extensive testing. The chief minister said that 17 cases had been detected in Sukkur, seven in Hyderabad, two each in Khairpur, Thatta Badin, Matiari, Mirpurkhas and, one each in Dadu, Jamshoro, Mirpurkhas, and Larkana. Shah directed Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho to send special teams of lab experts to visit each and every district to guide them for collecting samples. The chief minister directed all the deputy commissioners to improve their health facilities and encourage people to adopt social distancing in their respective areas.

For more information, contact:
Press Secretary,
Chief Minister House, Sindh
Tel: +92-21-99202019(Ext: 336)
Website: www.cmsindh.gov.pk

287 new coronavirus cases detected in Sindh, three die of virus: Sindh Chief Minister

Karachi, April 25, 2020 (PPI-OT): Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali has said that with detection 287 new coronavirus cases in Sindh, the viral disease cases tally has risen to 4,232 while three more patients succumbed to the virus, taking the province-wide viral disease death toll to 78. In his message, he said that 2,599 tests were conducted against which 287 new cases were diagnosed as positive. “The number of total tests conducted so far comes to 38,188 through which 3,945 cases have been detected,” he said.

Giving details of the 3,353 patients, Shah said that 2,146 were under treatment at their home isolation, 767 at Isolation centers and 439 at hospitals. “At present, 30 patients are in critical conditions, of them, 14 have been put on ventilators,” he disclosed. He said that 30 coronavirus patients recovered on Saturday and the number of patients recovered so far is 802 which constituted 19 percent of the total patients.

The chief minister said that the cases were on the increase in Karachi. He added that in Central District, 37 new cases had been diagnosed, 57 in East, 79 in South, 18 in West, eight in Malir and five in Korangi. “This shows that out of 287 new cases, 199 have been detected in Karachi and 88 in other districts,” he said.

The chief minister said that coronavirus had penetrated in other districts of the province. He added that 17 cases had been diagnosed in Larkana, 13 in Hyderabad, 11 in Shikarpur and seven in Sukkur. “This is a very serious situation and we will have to adopt precautionary measures as advised by WHO and local experts,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah launched Counselling and Psycho-social support service during COVID-19 emergency which could be reached on helpline 1093, web page COVIDPSS.PK and community-based psychosocial support mobile app on android and IOS.

He performed launching ceremony by dialing 109 and inquired about the services available on the helpline. The local government department has launched the service with the support of the health department, UNICEF and UNDP. The CM was briefed that 100,000 affected children, women and men mainly through online platform would be counselled.

For more information, contact:
Press Secretary,
Chief Minister House, Sindh
Tel: +92-21-99202019(Ext: 336)
Website: www.cmsindh.gov.pk

Two more die of coronavirus in Sindh; 49 in critical condition: Sindh Chief Minister

Karachi, April 24, 2020 (PPI-OT): Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that with the death of two more persons following contracting coronavirus, the death toll from the virus infection has risen to 75 in Sindh while 49 patients are in critical condition.

This he disclosed in his video message in which he shared the status of coronavirus with the people of Sindh regularly. He said that with two more deaths on Friday, the number of lives claimed by the virus had reached 75. He said: “Our 49 patients are in critical condition and 15 of them have been put on the ventilators, he disclosed. He added 274 new cases emerged on Friday when 2561 tests were conducted. This is the situation against which we are struggling to slow down the spread of the virus so that necessary measures could be taken.

He said that out of 274 new cases, 202 belong to Karachi and 71 to other districts. They include 88 in District South, 60 in East, 28 Central, 21 in Malir, and six in West. The total number of coronavirus cases in Karachi has surged to 2,285, the chief minister said. “At present, District Central has 28 cases, East 553, Malir 255, South 736 and West 277,” he said.

The chief minister said that 42 patients had recovered and sent back to their homes. “The number of the patients recovered from the infection comes to 772 or 20 percent of the total patients,” he said. Shah said that 3,100 patients were under treatment including 1893 or 61 percent in at homes, 767 or 24.8 percent at Isolation Centers and 440 of 14.2 percent in hospitals.

Stranded Pakistanis: The chief minister said that six different flights had flown back 849 stranded Pakistanis, including 62 crew members and all of them had been tested. The test results showed that 127 were positive, 696 negative and 26 samples were being tested again.

The chief minister said that so far 35,589 results tests had been made against which 3,945 cases had been diagnosed. Tablighi Jamaat: Shah said that there were 5,102 members of Tablighi Jamaat and all of them were tested, as a result, 765 of them were diagnosed as positive while the results of four people were pending. The members of Tablighi Jamaat who have been declared as negative were being sent back to their homes.

“The treatment of the patients is underway and hopefully they will recover very soon,” he said. The chief minister said that after Karachi, Sukkur had shown the spread of local transmission with 14 new cases. “The data of districts is Sukkur 14, Umerkot one, Tando Allahyar one, Sanghar one, Kambar-Shahdadkot one and Badin one. Appreciating doctors, the chief minister said that they were deemed to be at the frontline but later realized that they were our last defense line. “We, ourselves, are at the frontline and after being infected with coronavirus, we go to the doctors as the last defense line,” he said.

Difficult Decision: Murad Ali Shah said that being a chief executive of the province, he had taken difficult decisions in the supreme interest of the people of the province. “I had announced strict lockdown from 12 noon to 3 pm and decided to advise people to offer Taraweeh at their homes,” he said.

For more information, contact:
Press Secretary,
Chief Minister House, Sindh
Tel: +92-21-99202019(Ext: 336)
Website: www.cmsindh.gov.pk