-Sindh CM cautions against declaring early victory against virus
By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday confirmed 74 deaths in a single day by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 248,872. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 5,197.
According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 2,521 persons have been tested positive for COVID-19 in 24 hours.
Province-wise Details:
Sindh has become the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.
Till now 103,836 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 86,556 in Punjab, 30,078 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11,157 in Balochistan, 14,023 in Islamabad, 1,658 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 1,564 in Azad Kashmir.
Furthermore 2,006 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 1,747 in Sindh, 1,087 in KP, 126 in Balochistan, 152 in Islamabad, 36 in GB and 43 in Azad Kashmir.
Patients are under treatment at quarantine centers of 462 hospitals where 7,295 beds are available.
Pakistan has so far conducted 1,562,638 coronavirus tests and 24,211 in last 24 hours. 156,700 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 2,118 patients are in critical condition. Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani on Sunday said that provincial government policies are bearing fruits as a further decrease was recorded in the number of Covid-19 confirmed cases across Balochistan.
In a statement, he said that new coronavirus cases have dropped by 50 percent in the province.
He said that the tally of recovered patients has increased from the active cases and 64 percent patients of coronavirus have recovered.
The overall tally of infections in Balochistan has now reached to 11,157 and the death toll in the province stands at 126, he added.
Liaquat Shahwani said that more than 7000 patients have fully recovered from the virus.
As many as 2,521 new coronavirus cases and 74 deaths were reported in the country over the past 24 hours, taking the national tally of cases to 248,872 and fatalities to 5,197.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Sunday warned against declaring an “early victory” on the country’s efforts to battle the coronavirus pandemic and urged citizens to get tested.
Speaking to the media in Karachi, the chief minister said that the provincial government had started taking steps to combat the disease since February.
“Today we are in control of the situation to a certain extent [but] I don’t think we are fully in control, and it is up to us [how we move forward].”
He stated that the objective behind introducing restrictions was not to eradicate the disease but to slow its spread so that the government could work on improving health facilities. “We did have major issues at hospitals at one point, people could not find space in hospitals,” he said, adding that the situation was eventually resolved.
Recounting all the steps taken by the government with regard to increasing the number of health facilities in the province, Shah said: “Right now, doctors also don’t know [how to treat Covid-19]. There’s something new being touted everyday. At the start, hydroxychloroquine was recommended, but now they say not to use it.
“Until they figure out a treatment, we have to identify possible patients, we have to trace, and we have to test them […] if they come back positive we have to trace their contacts so that we can stop the spread of the virus,” he said.
Shah pointed out that Sindh has been conducting at least double the number of tests of any province since the pandemic began.
“I have the data till July 11, according to which we are conducting 11,790 tests per million [population]. Punjab is doing 5,359 tests, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is doing 4,898 and Balochistan is conducting 4,316 tests per million.
“Punjab is ranked second, but it is also conducting less than half of the tests we are carrying out.” Despite this, I am still not satisfied with Sindh’s testing capacity, he said.
The health department is working on increasing testing, the chief minister said, adding that field staff had also tested positive which meant that testing teams had to be changed.
“This is not an excuse, we have to be prepared for these things. But what I fear […] is that we are ruining progress by declaring an early victory.”
Sharing data from the National Command and Control Centre for July 11, Shah said that Sindh identified 10,815 people and tested all of them.
“Unfortunately, Punjab identified 10,292 and tested 8,292. They conducted 2,000 less tests, but claim that their testing capacity is 17,000.
“What I fear is that we are thinking that we have gotten a handle on the pandemic, that is wrong. Eidul Azha and other religious events are coming up where people will gather and you can’t stop them.”
He said that the next two to three months were going to be difficult, adding that it was now very important for people to get tested.
“Sindh is working on increasing testing capacity, but that will only happen when there is pressure on existing facilities. Right now our current capacity is not being utilised,” he said, adding that this would benefit everyone in the long run.
“Someone who has the disease may not even feel it. But if they infect someone else, it could result in their death.”
Advisor to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Information Kamran Khan Bangash has said that the government is making all out efforts to protect the masses from coronavirus and its outcomes.
The Chief Minister’s Advisor was speaking at a media briefing in Peshawar on Sunday.
He said with the assistance of NDMA, another hospital was being established in Peshawar Institute of Cardiology for corona patients.
Kamran Bagash urged the public to strictly follow SOPs to contain spread of coronavirus during forthcoming Eid ul Azha.
