KARACHI - Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday said that coronavirus claimed 19 more lives lifting the death toll to 634 while 1475 new cases emerged, raising the tally to 36364.

In a statement issued here from the CM House on Saturday, the CM said that 19 more patients died, the death toll jumped to 634 which constituted 1.7 percent of the total patients. He added 1475 new cases emerged when 7030 tests were conducted. “We have 36364 cases in Sindh against 222890 tests conducted so far,” he said.

Syed Murad Ali Shah said that at present 17465 patients were under treatment, of them 16138 in home isolation, 61 at isolation centers and 1266 in different hospitals. “At present 388 patients are in critical condition, of them 58 have been put on the ventilators,” he said and prayed for their early recovery.

He said that through telemedicine all the patients in home isolation were being treated properly. “The Sindh government has engaged around 500 doctors all over Sindh to keep in touch with patients in home isolation and provide them treatment,” he said and added in case of emergency they were being shifted to hospitals.

According to Syed Murad Ali Shah, 554 patients recovered and discharged to their homes. He added that so far 18265 patients had recovered which constituted 50.3 percent recovery rate, the highest in the country.

Giving district-wise break-up of the cases, the Chief Minister said that out of 1475 cases of the province, 990 cases were detected in Karachi. They included district East 366, Central 223, South 176, Malir 87, Korangi nine and West 48.

He said that Ghotki had 97 new cases, Larkana 64, Hyderabad 59, Sukkur 56, Jacobabad 26, Dadu 19, Shikarpur 13, Khairpur 10, Mirpurkhas seven, Sanghar six, Shaheed Benazirabad three, Thatta two, Umerkot, Badin, Jamshoro, Kambar, Kashmore have one each.

Sindh Chief Minister urged the people of Sindh to be cautious of the virus and adopt SOPs as part of life.

Sindh observes smart

lockdown to curb virus

The province of Sindh is observing a smart lockdown on Saturday and Sunday, during which markets and shopping malls will remain closed in order to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Sindh recorded more than 34,000 virus cases as of today with more than 600 deaths. On June 2, the Sindh government lifted some of the coronavirus lockdown restrictions, allowing businesses to resume activities five days a week — except on Saturdays and Sundays — from 6am-7pm, a notification from the provincial home department issued stated.

“Business timings except pharmacies and essential services — Five days per week (Monday-Friday) from Morning to Maghreb (6:00 am to 7:00 pm),” the notification said.

However, the provincial government, despite easing the lockdown, had decided to prohibit 10 sectors from resuming their activities; these are as follows:

Educational/Training institutes,  Marriage Hall, Business Centres, Expo Halls, All contact sport, indoor Sports Club, indoor Gyms and Sports facilities, Sporting tournament, indoor and outdoor• Restaurants, cafes excluding takeaway& Home delivery Theme, Amusement Park and Arcades Beauty Parlors and Spas Cinemas and Theatres, Public Processions/Gathering of all Nature/Shrines and Tourism/Tourist Hotels.

The order has come into effect and would remain valid till June 30, 2020. The move to reopen businesses in the province is part of Sindh’s adherence to the Supreme Court’s directive to formulate a uniform policy with regard to the coronavirus lockdown.

On May 10, the Sindh CM said that there will be 100 percent lockdown in the province on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, except for the businesses and shops providing essential services, including selling of grocery, food, and milk items.

Plasma donation low in Sindh : Dr Dur e Naz

Director, Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority (SBTA), Dr Dur-e-Naz Jamal said on Saturday that Sindh government was considering to extend plasma collection and donation points across the province to facilitate COVID-19 patients.

 Dr Dur-e-Naz said presently plasma collection and donation were being performed in Karachi and Hyderabad while government was planning to write letter to Drug Regularity Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) for approval to extend passive immunization technique throughout Sindh.

 She further informed that at least 33 coronavirus recovered patients had donated plasma to COVID-19 patients out of which 25 were completely recovered from infection disease while seven others died. She explained that seven people did not die due to plasma administration but other complications.

 She regretted that plasma donation was very low in Sindh due to myths. She stressed the need of massive public awareness to increase plasma donation. She informed that more than 18,265 patients had recovered from coronavirus in Sindh so far out of which only 50 donated plasma after recovering from disease.