Coronavirus Update: Sindh having highest infection rate

By Mukhtar Alam
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Sindh added the maximum 53% cases to the national daily tally of COVID-19 infections on July 14 when the provincial health authorities registered 1,151 new positive cases, with 37 more related fatalities during the last 24 hours across the province. In all Pakistan reported 2,165 news COVID-19 cases on July 14, including 553 from Punjab, 254 from KPK, 113 from Islamabad Capital territory, 47 from Balochistan and other territories.

According to the Sindh Health department daily COVID-19 summary, different designated laboratories examined 9,972 samples during the last 24 hours ending on July 14 morning, out of which 1,151, including 521 from Karachi, were found positive. Sindh’s daily infection rate came as 11.5%. 

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his daily COVID-19 status statement, remarked that the province had a total 107,773 infections since February 26 when Karachi reported the first COVID-19 case of the country, out of which 40,490, including 843 in critical conditions, were under treatment at hospitals, isolation centres and homes while as many as 121 patients were being provided with the ventilator support. 

The health department’s data reported Karachi having the maximum number of cases on July 14, followed by Jacobabad (64) Hyderabad (62), Khairpur (57), Umerkot (55), Shaheed Benazirabad (50), Larkana (41), Kambar Shadadkot (39), Dadu (35), Thatta (31), Shikarpur (28), Mirpurkhas (25), Ghotki (24), Sanghar (24), Badin (15), Sukkur (15), Kashmore (13), Jamshoro (12), Tando Allahyar (11), Matiari (9), Tando Mohammad Khan (5), Sujawal (2) and Naushero Feroze (1). 

Karachi and three other districts witnessed more deaths taking place at various hospitals and homes on July 14.

As many as 19 men aged 35 to 96 years and 15 women living in the age brackets of 24 to 80 years lost their lives at Karachi. Khairpur, Mirpurkhas and Tando Mohammad Khan registered death of one man each, who were aged between 55 to 65 years.

Karachi’s six districts have reported 1,601 COVID-19 fatalities so far, followed by Hyderabad (56), Larkana (31), Sukkur (23), Sanghar (11), Ghotki (11), Khairpur (11) and other districts.

In the meantime, a report compiled by the WHO Sindh sub office, as of July 13, revealed that the COVID-19 testing laboratories utilized only 32% of their collective testing capacity against 162% utilization of collective capacity of Hyderabad’s laboratories. The percentage of positive cases was the highest (19%) in Karachi while Hyderabad had 11%.

As many as 30% of the hospitalized patients at Karachi were put on ventilators on July 13, 21% at Hyderabad, 14% at Shaheed Benazirabad and 26% at Sukkur, the report added.