Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Sunday inaugurated a newly established high-dependency unit (HDU) at the Expo Centre field isolation facility as another 41 people succumbed to COVID-19, raising the province’s death toll due to the novel coronavirus infection to 1,089.
“The establishment of this HDU is the manifestation of our commitment to further enhance and strengthen provincial health services so that no COVID-19 patient remains unattended,” Shah said while speaking at the inaugural ceremony.
The HDU has been set up in collaboration with the Pakistan Army. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Information Minister Syed Nasir Shah, senior army and civilian officers, Dr Abdul Bari Khan and others.
CM Shah said that the HDU has been housed in four rooms with a capacity of 140 oxygen beds. “I really appreciate the Pakistan Army for establishing this HDU within 10 days,” he said, and added that it would prove to be the best facility located in the heart of the city.
He said that the army was supporting the Sindh government in containing the virus. “The establishment of the new HDU would help reduce the pressure on other hospitals of the city,” he said.
He added that the army has posted highly trained healthcare staff at the HDU, and that the Indus Hospital would also support the operation of the unit.
The CM said the Sindh government has established health facilities for COVID-19 patients with 453-bed ICUs and 1,553-bed HDUs across the province, and another 140-bed HDU has now been added to the system.
After the Expo Centre, the chief executive went to the Services Hospital, where a separate unit for COVID-19 patients was being constructed. He directed the relevant engineer to expedite the work so that it could be opened at the earliest.
41 more dead
Forty-one more people have died due to COVID-19 and another 2,275 cases have been reported during the past 24 hours in Sindh, with the death toll due to the viral disease in the province reaching 1,089.
CM Shah said in his daily situation report on the health emergency that 13,890 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, resulting in 2,275 people, or 16.4 per cent of those who were screened, being diagnosed with COVID-19.
“This is the lowest percentage during the past one week, which had been seeing a result between 21 and 24 per cent,” he said, adding that this might be the result of the selective lockdown.
The chief executive said the provincial government has so far conducted 378,849 tests, which have resulted in 69,628 positive cases, which means that 18.4 per cent of those screened have been found to be infected.
“Our testing capacity is the highest in Pakistan, and we are still working hard to further enhance it,” he added. He said that after the latest deaths, the percentage of the diagnosed people who have lost their fight with COVID-19 continues to stand at 1.6 per cent.
Shah said that 32,261 patients are currently under treatment: 30,705 in self-isolation at home, 48 at isolation centres and 1,508 at hospitals. He added that 718 patients are in critical condition, of whom 117 are on life support.
He said that 2,166 more people have recovered during the past 24 hours, increasing the number of cured patients to 36,278, which shows a 52.1 per cent recovery rate. “We still have to improve our recovery rate and reduce the death rate by strengthening our health services and convincing people to adopt the precautionary measures.”
The CM said that out of the 2,275 fresh cases of Sindh, 1,280 (or 56.3 per cent) have been reported in Karachi Division alone: 395 of the new patients belong to District East, 363 to District South, 172 to District Central, 140 to District Korangi, 111 to District West and 99 to District Malir.
He said Ghotki has reported 74 new cases, Sukkur 72, Khairpur 64, Hyderabad 63, Mirpurkhas and Shikarpur 38 each, Shaheed Benazirabad 36, Kashmore 33, Thatta 28, Larkana 24, Jamshoro 13, Naushehroferoze 12, Umerkot 11, Tando Allahyar 10, Matiari and Dadu six each, Kambar three, and Sujawal and Tando Mohammad Khan two each. The chief executive urged the people of the province to support the selective lockdown in the virus hotspots and avoid going out of their houses unnecessarily.