KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Sunday said that 17 Covid-19 patients lost their lives overnight and 961 new cases emerged when 11,473 samples were tested.

In a statement issued here from CM House, he said that with the fresh deaths, the toll rose to 3,611, constituting 1.7 per cent death rate.

Mr Shah said that 11,473 samples were tested which diagnosed 961 cases that constituted 8.4 per cent current detection rate.

He said that so far, 2,397,783 tests had been conducted against which 218,597 cases were detected, of them 90.3 per cent or 197,430 patients recovered, including 753 overnight.

The CM said that currently 17,556 patients were under treatment, of them 16,756 were in home isolation, 12 at isolation centres and 788 in different hospitals. He added that the condition of 704 patients was stated to be critical, including 74 shifted to ventilators.

According to the chief minister, out of 961 new cases, 791 have been detected in Karachi -- 256 in South district, 251 in East, 94 in Korangi, 92 in Central, and 49 each in Malir and West districts.

He said that Hyderabad district had 25 cases, Qambar-Shahdadkot 15, Larkana 14, Dadu and Shaheed Benazirabad 12 each, Khairpur and Sujawal 11 each, Thatta seven, Jamshoro six, Ghotki and Mirpurkhas five each, Badin and Jacobabad four each, Matiyari and Sukkur three each, Tando Allahyar, Naushahro Feroze and Sanghar two each cases, and Kandhkot-Kashmore district one case.

The chief minister urged people of the province to follow SOPs.

Published in Dawn, Jannuary 4th, 2021