–Ghani says lockdown extended till end of Ramzan
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday said that in Sindh, 662 new coronavirus cases were diagnosed while six more virus-infected people lost their lives, taking the virus disease death toll 118 or 1.76 per cent so far in the province since the outbreak of the disease.
In a video message, 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 in the province out of which 6,675 people were diagnosed with coronavirus.
CM Murad 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 per cent of the total patients. “At present, 5,262 patients are under treatment, of them 4044 or 77 per cent are at home isolation, 733 at isolation centers and 485 at different hospitals,” he said and added that 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 with coronavirus when tested. Shah said that out of 190 positive cases, 92 belonged to Sindh, 56 to Punjab, 24 to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and 18 to Balochistan.
Sharing the data of Karachi, CM Murad 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.
He said that the health department people, particularly doctors, paramedical staff and technicians handling lab tests were providing selfless service. He paid tribute to them 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.
LOCKDOWN EXTENDED:
Meanwhile, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani said that the Sindh government has decided to extend the coronavirus lockdown in the province through the month of Ramzan, The lockdown that had been initially imposed in the province on April 14 will stay in place throughout the holy month.
“Industries and businesses will be allowed to open under strict implementation of SOPs,” he said while talking to a private television channel on Friday.
“Changes will only be made considering the spread of the deadly virus in the province,” Ghani said. “If things get better, we will change our policies,” he added, emphasising that the health of the residents is the first priority of the government.
Ghani advised people to practise social distancing and take responsibility for themselves and those around them. “For shopping, the government might consider opening few businesses with SOPs,” he said.
“We will, however, make sure that there are no crowded shops,” the minister said. He added that during these critical times, provincial and federal governments should not indulge in political point-scoring and work together to fight the disease.
