KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Monday that June started with 22 deaths and detection of 1,402 new cases of the coronavirus.

Sharing details of the daily situation of the coronavirus, he said the death toll in Sindh had reached 503 and the number of cases had risen to 29,647.

The chief minister said that 6,289 samples were tested which resulted in the detection of 1,402 cases, which constituted 22.3 per cent of the tests. He added that so far the provincial government had conducted 187,092 tests, which detected 29,647 cases.

According to Mr Shah, 22 more patients succumbed to the virus, taking the death toll to 503 that came to 1.7pc. He added that 342 patients were in a critical condition, of whom 71 were on ventilators.

He said that at present 14,554 patients of the coronavirus were under treatment — including 13,346 at home, 113 at isolation centres and 1,095 at different hospitals.

WHO representative urges the chief minister to force people to adopt precautionary measures

The chief minister said that 785 patients had recovered during the last 24 hours and the number of patients recovered so far had reached 14,590, showing a 49.2pc recovery rate.

Giving district-wise details of the cases, the chief minister said that out of the 1,402 cases, 1,028 belonged to Karachi. “Korangi [district] has 292 cases, East 232, South 193, Central 165, West 101 and Malir 45 cases,” he said.

The chief minister said that Ghotki and Sukkur had 46 cases each, Larkana 38, Hyderabad 25, Mirpurkhas 21, Shikarpur 20, Jacobabad 12, eight each in Khairpur and Jamshoro, four each in Badin and Sujawal, two each in Thatta, Dadu and Naushahro Feroze, one each in Umerkot, Shaheed Benazirabad and Kashmore-Kandhkot district.

He urged the people of Sukkur, Larkana and Ghotki to follow the SOPs because the cases of local transmission were on the rise in their areas.

WHO official meets CM

World Health Organisation (WHO) representative for Pakistan Dr Palitha Mahipala called on CM Shah and discussed the coronavirus situation in the country, particularly in Sindh.

The meeting was attended by Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho, Dr Sara Khan of the WHO and principal secretary to CM Sajid Jamal Abro.

The chief minister said that he had enhanced testing capacity from 200 to 6,600 per day. He added that he was establishing two separate hospitals for the coronavirus in Karachi with a capacity of 250 beds while similar health facilities would be established in other divisional headquarters of the province.

The WHO country chief appreciated the efforts of the Sindh government in containing the virus and slowing its spread.

He urged the chief minister to take strict measures to force the people to adopt precautionary measures.

The chief minister thanked the WHO for supporting and guiding his government to fight the coronavirus.

He urged the WHO representative to initiate a training programme for doctors, paramedical staff and nurses dealing with Covid-19 cases.

Dr Mahipala assured the chief minister that his organisation would be supporting the Sindh government in all aspects, including training.

Plane crash

Sharing details of the plane crash, the chief minister said that out of 97 bodies, 87 had been handed over to the families. He added that four bodies were lying in the mortuary of Chhipa and six in Edhi’s.

According to the chief minister, 48 bodies were identified through DNA while one sample was yet to be matched.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2020