KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Wednesday that 208 patients of the coronavirus — 57 in Karachi and 151 at Sukkur — were under treatment in the province.

“The situation is not so serious, yet it is worrisome and we must adopt precautionary measures to stop its further spreads in our cities,” he added.

The chief minister said this while presiding over the 21st meeting of the task force on coronavirus at the CM House.

It was informed in the meeting that the samples of 303 pilgrims of Tafatan /Sukkur were taken for test, of them 151 came out as negative while 151 were diagnosed as positive and one result was pending.

Besides, 573 samples of Karachi and other districts were taken, of them 516 were declared as negative and 57 as positive.

Over 1,000 volunteers have got themselves registered to help in relief work

The chief minister was told that there were total 208 coronavirus patients in the province and 57 of them were being treated in Karachi and 151 at Sukkur.

Sukkur Commissioner Shafiq Mahesar told the chief minister that 757 pilgrims from Taftan had arrived at Sukkur in 18 buses and they all were sent to their rooms where fruits, edibles and water had already been placed for them.

The chief minister asked the commissioner to start collecting their samples and send them to Karachi for test.

The meeting was told that the government hospitals working across the province had reported 1,874 suspects/pneumonia patients, of them 28 patients were tested.

The private hospitals of the province reported 702 suspects with samples of pneumonia, of them eight had severe symptoms of pneumonia and their tests were being conducted.

The chief minister was told that a new batch of 10,660 pilgrims arrived from Saudi Arabia from March 8. The immigration authorities provided their list to the health department.

He directed the health department to send them messages on their mobile phones with the advice to stay in isolation at their home and in case of symptoms they must inform the health department so that they would complete 14 days in isolation.

The meeting was also told that 44 pilgrims returned from Iran illegally and had reached Turbat where they were stopped.

The chief minister directed the deputy commissioner of Kambar-Shahdadkot to receive them in his limits and then send them to Sukkur for treatment.

Isolation camp at Expo Centre

Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shall­wani said that on the instructions of the chief minister, he had spoken with the federal government to set up an isolation centre and field hospital at the Expo Centre.

He informed the meeting that the federal government had agreed in principle and few formalities were pending there which would be completed soon.

The chief minister directed the commissioner to make necessary arrangements for beds and other required equipments. “This would turn to be a good facility in the centre of the city,” he said.

The commissioner also said that as many as 866 complaints were received at his control room.

The director general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Salman Shah, told the chief minister that the registration of volunteers to assist the PDMA in relief work all over Sindh had started and over 1,000 volunteers got themselves registered with the authority on its website. The chief minister said that the people of Sindh were demonstrating a very responsible attitude. “I am quite happy that everyone is cooperating at his own level and capacity,” he said and added it was quite encouraging.

25 depts to be closed from today

Meanwhile, the provincial government on Wednesday ordered the closure of as many as 25 administrative departments with effect from Thursday (today) in the wake of coronavirus threat in the province.

A notification said that the provincial government decided to close the following administrative departments, offices, semi-autonomous bodies and corporations across the province: Auqaf department, college education department, cooperation department, culture, tourism, antiquities & archives department, department of empowerment of persons with disabilities, energy department, environment, climate change & coastal development department, forest & wildlife department, human rights department, human settlement spatial development & social housing department, information science & technology department, industries & commerce department,, inter provincial coordination department, investment department, livestock & fisheries department, mines & mineral development department, minorities affairs department, population welfare department, school education & literacy department, social welfare department, sports & youth affairs department, transport & mass transit department, universities & boards department, women development department and works & services department.

However, the notification said, administrative secretaries, senior officers and staff would remain available on phone.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2020