KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday said that the threat of Covid-19 had completely changed our lifestyle and the provincial government was preparing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for each and every sector, including mosques, educational institutions, shopping centres and other areas for the post-lockdown period.

“Now, new rules of leading day-to-day life are developing and in the post-lockdown period life will not be the same as it was in the first week of January 2020. Therefore, everyone will have to reshape his and her domestic, business and social life,” he said in a video message released from CM House.

Mr Shah said that his government had engaged health experts, top government functionaries and social scientists to work out new SOPs under which people would be bound to offer prayers, to do business and lead social and domestic life.

Asks people to cooperate with the govt and follow the SOPs during post-lockdown period

“But, it is very much clear that life has changed and now it will be only and only a health-oriented lifestyle,” he added.

932 coronavirus cases in Sindh

Talking about Covid-19 cases, he said the tally had reached 932 in Sindh and 17 patients could not survive.

Mr Shah said that the number of infected people on Sunday was 881 and 51 new cases were detected on Monday, thus the number of cases had reached 932 till Monday morning.

He added that till Monday morning 9,589 tests had been conducted

Sharing good news with the people of the province, the chief minister said that the number of patients recovered till Monday morning was 253 which he said constituted 27.5 per cent of the infected people.

He added that at present 662 patients were under treatment in public and private hospitals and 342 people were under isolation at their homes.

The chief minister urged the philanthropists to distribute ration by maintaining social distancing from the recipients. “If you [philanthropists] fail to maintain social distance from the people you are giving ration they will be infected,” he warned and termed it a crime against poor people.

He urged the people to ensure social distancing at their homes.

“I will urge you to keep social distancing from your elders and children because they are more prone to the threat of infection,” he said, adding: “Your precautions will be surety of the health of your near and dear ones.”

He said that those infected or suspected of having coronavirus would be receiving phone calls from government offices. “I would request you to cooperate with them even if you receive more calls from different departments for inquiring [about] your social contacts, etc. We all are doing this for you.”

He also thanked everyone living in the province for their cooperation and support.

New ICUs, isolation centres approved

Presiding over two different meetings of the health department and Quarantine and Isolation Accommodation Committee, the CM said that in every district headquarter isolation centres must have all the facilities, including water, drainage, electricity, solid waste disposal and washrooms.

The meeting was attended by all members of the committee, including its chairman Mohammad Waseem, senior member Board of Revenue Qazi Shahid Parvez, Finance Secretary Hassan Naqvi and others.

The CM on the recommendation of the committee directed the director general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority to arrange or hire big halls to set up isolation centres in every district headquarter and provide them beds, fans and such other facilities.

The meeting also discussed and decided about the procurement of medical supplies.

It was also decided to establish total 193-bed isolation centres in the city hospitals — 59-bed isolation ward in Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), 65 at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and 69-bed in Lyari General Hospital (LGH) — and 104-bed ICUs in six hospitals of Karachi — the CHK, JPMC, LGH, Trauma Centre, DUHS Ojha campus and Services Hospital.

The CM also decided to establish total 166-bed isolation centres at Hyderabad, Sukkur, Gambat, Khairpur and Shaheed Benazirabad.

There would be a 23-bed isolation and 15-bed ICU at Liaquat University Hyderabad, 50-bed isolation and 10-bed ICU at Chandka Medical College Hospital Larkana, 20-bed isolation and 10-bed ICU at Ghulam Mohammad Mahar Medical College Hospital Sukkur. Three-bed isolation and 17-bed ICU at Gambat, 50-bed isolation and 9-bed ICU at Civil Hospital Khairpur and 20-bed isolation and 10-bed ICU at PMC Hospital, Shaheed Benazirabad.

Equipment procurement

The chief minister was told that the procurement committee had approved purchase of 200 thermal guns, 50 vital sign monitors, 10,000 sanitizers of 1,000ml each, 200 syringe pumps, oxygen cylinders, regulators, pumps for sanitizers, biohazard bags, PCR kits with diagnostic system, extraction kits, suction machines, etc.

He said that it was up to the procurement committee comprising experts to approve the required material.

Their payment would be made by the Emergency Fund Committee comprising the chief secretary, Faisal Edhi, Mushtaq Chhapra, Dr Abdul Bari and finance secretary.

The meeting also decided to purchase stethoscopes, three million surgical masks, ventilators, monitors, mobile x-ray and ECG machines, PCR Machines, ICU beds, incinerators, PCR machines and point of care molecular diagnostic system.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2020