KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed the administration to strictly implement the SOPs announced by the government in view of fast spread of the coronavirus.

Presiding over a meeting of the task force on the coronavirus here at CM House on Monday, he observed that during the past seven days, the virus had hit new highs in Karachi-East where detection rate reached 22 per cent.

He said the detection rate was 13 per cent in South and 10 per cent in Central districts.

Sharing district-wise weekly data of positive cases from April 26 to May 2, it was disclosed that of the 5,609 samples tested in Karachi-East 1,257 were found positive that constituted a 22 per cent detection rate.

In Hyderabad 1,336 cases were detected against 6,962 tests that came to 19 per cent. Karachi-South showed 13 per cent positive cases where 732 cases were detected against 5,842 tests.

In Karachi-Central, 4,255 tests were conducted which diagnosed 414 cases that constituted 10 per cent.

Similarly, Korangi has seven per cent cases, Malir, Sukkur and Khairpur have six per cent each, Karachi-West, Shaheed Benazirabad, Naushehro Feroze, Matiari and Larkana have five per cent cases each.

The CM directed provincial ministers Saeed Ghani, Jam Ikram Dharejo, Nasir Hussain Shah and Adviser Murtaza Wahab to keep visiting the badly-affected districts to ensure implementation of SOPs in true spirit. “The district administration and the police must take coercive action against the business units defying the government orders in respect of working hours and enforcement of SOPs,” he said.

It was pointed out that the last 15 days (April 19 to May 3) comparative analyses showed that death rate per million in Sindh was recorded at two, 11 in AJK, one Balochistan, three Gilgit Baltistan, 25 Islamabad, 14 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 10 Punjab 10. Similarly, 420 cases per million were detected in AJK, 136 in Balochistan, 97 Gilgit Baltistan, 3,065 Islamabad, 382 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 333 Punjab and 269 in Sindh.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2021