Senior doctor dies of Covid complications

KARACHI: A senior medical professional and two more people lost their lives due to Covid-19 in Karachi where over 500 healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses and paramedics as well as other hospital staff, has been found infected with the novel coronavirus, officials said adding that Karachi’s case positivity climbed to 39.39 percent on Sunday.

"Prof. Salahuddin Ahmed Shaikh, a senior pediatrician associated with the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), died today due to complications of the Covid-19 in Karachi," an office-bearer of the Pakistan Pediatric Association (PPA) told The News, adding that despite being fully vaccinated and getting a booster, Prof. Shaikh got re-infected and died today during treatment.

According to the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), so far 174 healthcare workers, including 104 doctors, 65 paramedics, four nurses and one medical student, have lost their lives due to Covid-19 in the country. But Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), a representative body of doctors in Pakistan, says the number is much higher as so far over 230 doctors alone have died due to Covid-19 in entire Pakistan in addition to other healthcare workers.

Over 500 healthcare workers, including doctors, paramedics, nurses, and other administrative staff of public and private hospitals in Karachi, is infected with Covid-19 during the current wave of pandemic, provincial health officials said, adding that they included lab technicians working at different labs and diagnostic centers.

“A rough counting done by us revealed that over 500 healthcare workers are infected in Karachi with the virus and this number is constantly rising. Healthcare facilities both in the public and private sector have started facing burden as a growing number of their healthcare staff is in quarantine”, an official of the provincial health department said.

Officials at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC), National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), National Institute of Health (NICH), Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) and Lyari General Hospital confirmed that dozens of their staff members were infected and in quarantine after testing positive for the Covid-19 in the last few days.

Similarly, officials at the Indus Health Netowork, Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) and Liaquat National Hospital (LNH) as well as some other institutions also confirmed that their staff members were infected with Covid-19 and they were in quarantine, resulting in shortage of staff in the wards and critical care units at some facilities.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 positivity climbed to 39.39 percent in Karachi when 2,412 people were tested positive in the city after 6,124 tests were conducted, officials said, adding that with the spike in Covid-19 positivity, burden on healthcare facilities could be felt in the next few days.

As many as 2,670 more people were tested positive in entire Sindh on Sunday, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said in his daily Covid-19 situation report, saying 15,172 samples were tested which detected 2,670 cases that constituted 17.6 percent current detection rate. He added that so far, 7,350,313 tests have been conducted against which 498,285 cases were diagnosed, of them 94.2 percent or 472,125 patients have recovered, including 119 overnight.

The CM said that currently, 21,133 patients were under treatment, of them 20,850 were in home isolation, 26 at isolation centers and 257 at different hospitals. He added that the condition of 237 patients was stated to be critical, including 19 shifted to ventilators.

According to him, out of 2,670 new cases, 2,348 new cases have been detected from Karachi, including 824 from East, 548 South, 535 Central, 196 Malir, 135 West and 110 from Korangi. Hyderabad has 148, Sanghar 23, Shaheed Benazirabad 22, Matiari 20, Tharparkar 18, Tando Allahyar 16, Tando Muhammad Khan 14, Jamshoro 12, Sujawal 9, Nausheroferoze 7, Badin 6, Larkana and Umerkot 5 each, Dadu and Sukkur 2 each, Kashmore, Mirpurkhas, Thatta and Khairpur 1 each. The chief minister urged people of the province to follow SOPs.