Surge in Covid cases: Murad urges following SOPs before it is too late

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the COVID cases during the last week of June have shown an upward trend and it needs to be controlled before the advent of major events such as of Eidul Azha, local government elections and Muharram; otherwise the government would have no option but to take some tough decisions.

“This situation can easily be controlled through adopting COVID SOPs such as wearing masks, avoiding handshake, ensuring social distancing and washing hands frequently.”

This he said on Friday while presiding over a Coronavirus Task Force meeting, here at CM House.

The meeting was told that on June 17 the province had only 38 cases with a 3.6 percent detection ratio and on the next day, June 18 the number of cases jumped to 122. In this way the cases went on increasing and 465 cases were reported on June 30.

However, the chief minister said that the situation was not alarming, but rather worrisome. “We need to control it through mass awareness.”

The data shows that Karachi has the highest ratio of 19.76 percent cases on June 30.

The chief minister said that the ratio of cases in Karachi showed an upward trend between 19 to 21 percent during the said week while trend of the cases showed a decline in Hyderabad.

The weekly average of COVID cases in Karachi has been recorded at 17.47 percent, 1.01 percent in Hyderabad and 1.05 percent in the rest of the province. In this way the provincial average ratio during the said week remained at 7.66 percent.

The meeting was told that during the last 30 days six deaths were reported in the province. In May the province had four deaths, in April 10 and in March 25.

Minister Health Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho told the meeting that currently out of 4122 patients only 63 were in hospitals, of them 47 were in critical condition. She added that four patients have been shifted to ventilators.

The meeting was also attended by Provincial Ministers Nasir Shah, Sharjeel Memon (on video link), Advisor Law Murtaza Wahab, Parliamentary Secretary on Health Qasim Soomro, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, IG Police Ghulam Nabi Memon, Home Secretary Saeed Mangnijo, Commissioner Karachi Iqbal Memon, Deputy DG Rangers Brig Rauf Shahzad, and representatives of Corps Headquarters.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022