29 more patients died, 1447 new cases of COVID-19 emerged: Murad Shah

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that 1447 new cases of coronavirus have been detected by testing 8513 samples while 29 more patients died taking the death toll to 679. In a statement issued here on Monday from the CM House, the chief minister said that he has enhanced the testing capacity to 8600 per day. “Utilizing our 99 percent testing capacity, we tested 8513 samples against which 1447 new cases of coronavirus emerged that constituted 17 percent,” Mr Shah said and added that so far 139,522 samples have been tested which diagnosed 39,555 cases as positive which constituted 16.5 percent. According to Mr Shah, 29 more patients died overnight and the number of patients lost their lives due to coronavirus has reached to 679 which constituted 1.7 percent. He added that 19739 patients were under treatment, of them 18263 were in home isolation, 60 at Isolation Centers and 1416 in different hospitals. The CM disclosed that 435 patients were in critical condition, among them 83 were on ventilators. He prayed for their early recovery. He said that 468 more patients recovered overnight and returned to their normal life. The number of patients recovered so far has reached to 19137 which constituted 48.3 percent of the total patients. Shah said that out of 1447 cases of the province, 963 alone belonged to Karachi. They include 284 to East, 237 Central, South 214, Malir 130, Korangi 63 and West 35. He added that Hyderabad has 54 cases, Shaheed Benazirabad 39, Larkana and Sanghar 36 each, Ghotki 34, Khairpur 33, Jamshoro 17, Dadu 14, Badin 13, Kashmore 11, Mirpurkhas nine, Sukkur eight, Matiari and Naushehroferoze two each, Tando Allahyar, Tando Mohammad Khan, Umerkot and Kambar have one case each.  Analyzing the situation, Murad Ali Shah said that detection of new cases has come down from 22 percent to 17 percent, death ratio which used to be around 1.5 percent has increased to 1.7 percent and the recovery ratio has come down from 50.1 percent to 48 percent.  “This shows the problem is aggravating and we have to be more careful and realistic in adopting new life style – that is how to live with the virus,” he said and urged people to adopt SOPs, wear mask and avoid going into crowds.