Sindh reported its first case of coronavirus on February 26 according to recently released data by the provincial health department.

The number of cases started to increase at the beginning of March, rising steadily from mid-March and peaking around the end as a cluster of cases related to the Raiwind Ijtima emerged in Hyderabad and Karachi.

The report (of data compiled till April 12) was prepared by the Provincial and Regional Disease Surveillance and Response Units working under the Directorate General Health Services, Sindh.

Contrary to perceptions that the novel coronavirus attacks mainly those who are old, the report released by the Directorate General Health Services Sindh showed that the majority of those affected by the virus belong to the age group 20-39.

Death and infection tolls from the Covid-19 pandemic spreading around the world point to men being more likely than women to contract the disease and to suffer severe or critical complications if they do, according to a Reuters report. The results from the provincial data seem to reinforce that conclusion.

Read: Do men fare worse with Covid-19?

In a video message on Sunday, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said: "The ratio shows that men are more vulnerable than women as they frequently leave their homes and do not care to practice social distancing as advised by experts."

Men have become carriers for Covid-19, bringing it back home to their families, he added.

According to the report, towns of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Saddar and North Nazimabad have so far reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Karachi, which along with Sukkur constitute the majority of coronavirus cases in Sindh.

On Sunday, Rangers and police in Karachi blocked several roads in 11 union committees (UC) in the city's East district by erecting temporary barriers and parking heavy vehicles as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the chief minister said on Thursday that the lockdown — due to end on April 14 — would not be lifted at once, but would be eased off in phases.