Curiosity surrounds over delay of COVID-19 results in Sindh

Sindh Health Department hasn't released coronavirus lab updates in past 36 hours

KARACHI: The Sindh government's delay in updating the provincial tally of coronavirus cases stirred curiosity among the media on Sunday.

The results were not updated for at least 36 hours.

Several journalists complained about their efforts to acquire fresh results from the health department authorities going in vain. They said the official kept telling them that the data was being compiled and will be shared with them in a little while.

Acknowledging the outbreak as a serious issue two days ago, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had warned that the number of cases were increasing exponentially.

In a meeting held with Prime Minister Imran Khan on video link the chief minister said, "We have conducted very limited tests due to a lack of kits," adding, that the number of positive cases would  be much higher if we increase our tests.

According to the last update released by health department, the number of total positive cases in the province stands at 830, with 47 new cases reported at 11.30pm on April 3.

The details of the 14 people who have died and the 65 who have recovered from the pandemic so far were mentioned in the last update.

The opposition parties in Sindh went so far as to allege that the provincial government was hiding the facts.

Moreover, there were conflicting reports about the availability of COVID kits too. A section of the media reported that the government has been facing a shortage of kits to conduct the tests.

However, the spokesperson for the CM House while quoting  officials said that around 7,500 testing kits were available with the provincial government, and that the stock was considered to be enough for the next seven days.

On the other hand, the chief minister while presiding over a meeting on Saturday directed the health department to purchase 300,000 more kits so that enough stock could be made available.

Some experts pointed out that 200,000 testing kits could be purchased from a UK firm. "These kits have already been approved by the technical committee," an official privy to the development said.

The official added that the chief minister had approved the proposal and directed the Indus Hospital to place the order and try receiving the consignment within the next 15 days.

Hours after The Express Tribune's report on the delay, the Sindh government released COVID-19 lab update in a tweet by Murtaza Wahab.

The provincial tally stood at 881 with another 68 making full recovery.

The following information is relevant to assess the situation of #COVIDー19 in Sindh as of 5th April at 8 AM:

Total Tests 8931
Positive Cases 881
Recovered Cases 123
Deaths 15

In the last 24 hours, 68 people have recovered from corona in Sindh.

— Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui (@murtazawahab1) April 5, 2020

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