Corona cases rising with each passing day

ISLAMABAD: The coronavirus confirmed cases are on the rise with each passing day as cases and death toll countrywide rose to 91,365 and 1,899 and more than 4,000 cases reported in a single day on Friday.

Of the total confirmed cases of 87,476, Sindh reported 34,889 cases, Punjab 33,144, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 12, 459, Balochistan 5, 776, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 3,946, Gilgit-Baltistan 852, and AJK 299. Punjab suffers 22 deaths, record 2,040 new infections in one day.

Meanwhile, in Punjab the death of 22 more COVID-19 patients raised the death toll to 629, while confirmed cases of novel coronavirus raced to 33,144 with the addition of highest number of 2,040 new infections in a single day in the province.

So far 237 casualties have been reported from Lahore, 132 Rawalpindi, 72 Multan, 54 Faisalabad, 37 Gujranwala, 17 Gujrat, 16 Sialkot, 13 Rahim Yar Khan, 10 Sargodha, eight Bahawalpur, seven Sahiwal, four Toba Tek Singh, three each Jhang, Nankana Sahib and Muzaffargarh, two each Hafizabad, Sheikhupura and Narowal and one each from Bahawalnagar, Khushab, Kasur, Jhelum, Mianwali, Bhakkar and Rajanpur.

Out of 2,040 new cases of novel coronavirus, 1,095 were reported from Lahore, 218 Rawalpindi, 120 Faisalabad, 65 Sialkot, 64 Muzaffargarh, 60 Gujranwala, 54 Gujrat, 37 Sheikhupura, 31 Sargodha, 29 Attock, 22 each Jhelum and Bahawalnagar, 21 each Dera Ghazi Khan and Rahim Yar Khan, 20 Bahawalpur, 18 Toba Tek Singh, 14 Kasur, 12 Layyah, 10 Sahiwal, eight each Chakwal and Nankana Sahib, six Mianwali, five each Vehari and Okara, four Mandi Bahauddin, three Hafizabad, two each Chiniot, Bhakkar and Rajanpur and one from Khushab.

Out of total Covid-19 patients in Punjab so far, 1,926 are preachers of Tableeghi Jamaat, 768 pilgrims, 86 prisoners in nine districts and 30,274 citizens who mostly have fallen prey to local transmission.

So far 16,388 Covid-19 patients have been reported from Lahore, 2,707 Rawalpindi, 2,173 Multan, 2,051 Faisalabad, 1,647 Gujranwala, 1,070 Sialkot, 983 Gujrat, 538 Dera Ghazi Khan, 534 Sargodha, 483 Sheikhupura, 409 Hafizabad, 387 Muzaffargarh, 385 Rahim Yar Khan, 372 Bahawalpur, 318 Kasur, 291 Jhelum, 209 Vehari, 208 Mandi Bahauddin, 192 Nankana Sahib, 190 Lodhran, 175 Sahiwal, 153 Khushab, 152 Bahawalnagar, 134 Bhakkar, 128 Narowal, 124 Attock, 110 Layyah, 103 Toba Tek Singh, 93 Jhang, 87 Okara, 75 Khanewal, 70 Mianwali, 67 Rajanpur, 65 Pakpattan, 60 Chiniot and 43 Chakwal.

As per spokesperson for Corona Monitoring Room at Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, so far 266,959 tests have been performed in the province.

Out of these, he said, 33,144 have been tested positive for the virus. He said that 10,212 cases have been reported from 16-30 years age group. As many as 10,061 cases have been reported from 31-45 years age group. He said that lowest number of cases, 471, have been reported from above 75 years age group. He said that 7,806 patients have recovered and returned home, 629 died while 24,709 were isolated at homes or under treatment at different quarantine centres and health facilities.

Meanwhile, at least 657 shops violating SOPs were sealed while more than a thousand others were warned.

According to police, 210 shops were sealed in Saddar division for violating SOPs, while 480 shops were warned. Police in Cantt Division along with AC Shalimar visited six markets, 270 shops were closed for violation of SOPs and was a warning was issued to 350 shops. Police and assistant commissioners inspected several markets including Anarkali, Shoe Market, Neela Ghumbadh, Yateem Khana Chowk, Moon Market, Gulshan-e-Ravi, Iqbal Town, Karim Block Market. Some 187 shops were sealed for violating SOPs in the Iqbal Town division. CCPO Lahore Zulfiqar Hameed said that 1,000 drivers of motorcycles and vehicles were ticketed for not using masks.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that 40 more patients lost their lives to the virus within 24 hours, making it the highest death toll since March 19, when the first fatality was reported.

In a statement issued from CM House, Shah said that 1,353 new cases have emerged against 7,377 tests conducted.

He said that the government has so far conducted 215,860 tests against which 34,889 cases were diagnosed as positive.

Shah said that 40 more patients died over night. The number of deaths from the coronavirus in Sindh has reached 615, which constituted 1.7 percent.

“40 death within 24 hours is the highest figure since March 19 when first death was reported,” he said. The CM Sindh added that at present 370 patients were in a critical condition, including 62 on ventilators.

According to the chief minister, at present 16,487 patients were under treatment, of them 15,156 were in home isolation, 76 at isolation centers and 1,255 at different hospitals.

The CM said that 1,005 patients have recovered and returned to their normal life. The number of patients recovered so far has reached to 17,787, which constituted 51 percent of the total patients.

Shah said that out of 1,353 new cases, 984 belonged to Karachi. District East has 282 cases, Central 204, South 162, Malir 148, Korangi 108 and West 80, he added.

“Hyderabad has 70 new cases, Ghotki 41, Sukkur 26, Khairpur 25, Jacobabad 17, Larkana 14, Mirpurkhas 12, Jamshoro and Sanghar 11 each, Tando Mohammad khan and Kashmore six each, Naushehroferoze three, Badin Dadu, Kambar and Shikarpur have two each, Sujawal and Thatta one each,” said the statement.

The chief minister once again urged people of Sindh to be cautious and adopt precautionary measures against coronavirus infection.

Earlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the number of COVID-19 cases in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is increasing rapidly but the disease has not exploded in the region.

"In South Asia, not just in India, but in Bangladesh and... Pakistan and other countries of South Asia with large dense populations, the disease has not exploded, but there is always the risk of that happening," Dr Mike Ryan, WHO's top emergency expert, told a news conference.

Soumya Swaminathan, WHO's chief scientist, noting India has a population of 1.3 billion, said that the 200,000 reported cases, "look big but for a country of this size it's still modest".

WHO epidemiologist Dr Maria van Kerkhove said PCR tests can show a person with mild infection being positive for fragments of the virus 2-3 weeks after the onset of symptoms and those with severe cases "for much longer". "But we don’t know what that relates to in terms of infectiousness, if somebody can actually pass the virus," she said.