Two more coronavirus patients pass away in Sindh

NDMA to set up two more laboratories in city to ramp up testing

KARACHI: Two coronavirus patients passed away in Karachi on Saturday night, the Sindh health department confirmed on Sunday, while 33 more cases - all of which were contracted through local transmission - were reported in the metropolis on the day.

An 83-year-old patient and a 70-year-old patient succumbed to the infectious disease, bringing the national death toll to 14. One other patient had died in the province previously.

“We received the laboratory reports of both the patients after they had passed away. We found out that the cause of death in both cases was pneumonia along with COVID-19,” revealed Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazl Pechuho.

Meanwhile, Sindh’s coronavirus tally increased to 502, with 222 of the cases reported in Karachi, 265 among pilgrims returning from Iran in Larkana, seven in Hyderabad and as many in Larkana, and one in Dadu.

Upping the testing capacity

To ramp up testing for containing the spread of novel coronavirus, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will set up two more laboratories in Karachi on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The development comes after Sindh Governor Imran Ismail held a telephonic conversation with the premier on Sunday and apprised him of the situation arising out of coronavirus pandemic in the province.

NDMA chairperson Lt-Gen Muhammad Afzal also assured the governor that the testing facilities would be established soon at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation.

The addition of two more laboratories will enable the authorities to step up testing capabilities and ensure the timely diagnosis of coronavirus patients, as the number of cases in Sindh continues to rise, said Ismail.

Quarantine completed

Meanwhile, as many as 789 people accommodated at the quarantine centre set up in Sukkur have been declared healthy and physically fit, said Mahar Medical Hospital medical superintendent Dr Tasleem Akhtar Khamisani on Sunday.

He said that the pilgrims, who had returned from Iran via the Taftan border and had been quarantined as a precaution, had completed their isolation period and were ready to depart for their homes. According to the doctor, they had gone through multiple COVID-19 tests, all of which were negative, and as a result, they were permitted to leave the centre.

Further, 59 more pilgrims have been brought to Sukkur quarantine facility from the Taftan border.

According to Khamisani, they will be isolated there and will undergo mandatory testing.

Doctors posted at the centre, set up in Sukkur’s Labour Colony, registered their complaints with Sindh health director-general Dr Irshad Memon, who visited the facility on Sunday. They said that they were bereft of personal protective equipment and other facilities while performing their duties.

Blaming district health officer Munir Mangrio for discriminating against many doctors while assigning them duties, they said that doctors who lived far away from the centre had been posted there, while many others, living in close proximity to it, were deliberately not deputed at the facility.

A team of doctors from Khairpur district also met Dr Memon and shared their grievances about the lack of protection offered to them by the government.

Memon, along with other officials and Rangers personnel, had visited the centre with the aim of observing the arrangements and precautionary measures in place. The officials also reviewed the provision of food and other necessary facilities as well as the centre’s coordination with the Sindh health department.

With additional input from APP

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th, 2020.