KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday said that 451 new cases of coronavirus were reported over the past 24 hours in the province, pushing the tally to 8,189, media reported. In his regular video message on the coronavirus situation in the province today, he said that 9 more patients have died from coronavirus during the last 24 hours taking the death toll to 157. “We conducted 3,671 tests yesterday and 451 of them found positive. So far, 68,573 tests have been carried out in the province,” he added. CM Murad said 60 patients were discharged after the full recovery over the previous 24 hours, taking the number of patients recovered to 1,731. He said 6,752 patients are under treatment, including 5,528 in home isolation, while 721 are being kept at isolation centres and 503 at different hospitals. 89 patients are in critical condition, of them 14 are on ventilators, he added. He once again urged people to take safety measures and avoid travelling from one city to another in order to curb the spread of coronavirus. Murad Ali Shah said that an inquiry committee tasked to look into the circumstances leading to the death of a Covid-19 positive medic, Dr Furqan-ul-Haq has completed its investigation and action will be taken against responsible persons. Earlier in the day, an inquiry committee has refuted reports that he died because he was denied a ventilator in public and private sector hospitals in Karachi. The doctor, who had tested positive for the coronavirus, died on Sunday morning after he was allegedly denied treatment at various hospitals in the metropolis. He was taken to the SIUT and other hospitals, but all of them said they had no ventilators available, according to his family. According to the probe body’s findings, Dr Furqan-ul-Haq didn’t die because he was not provided a ventilator in a timely manner. The committee said the staff of the ambulance that was used to shift the retired doctor to hospitals didn’t provide him timely medical aid and when he was taken to Civil Hospital, a doctor referred him to another hospital instead of admitting him despite the fact that there were at least nine beds vacant in its ICU. The committee, therefore, recommended departmental proceedings against Dr Jagdesh over negligence.
