21 hospital staff test positive for Covid-19 in Sehwan

Hospital's out-patient department is closed due to the huge influx of patients

KARACHI: At least 21 employees, including four doctors, paramedics, a security guard and a cook, at the Syed Abdullah Shah Institute of Medical Sciences in Sehwan were found to be infected by the coronavirus on Saturday.

Following the diagnosis, the employees have been quarantined. The hospital is located at a distance of approximately 15 kilometres from Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah's native village.

A senior doctor at the hospital, on condition of anonymity, told The Express Tribune that the facility's out-patient department, which housed 500 beds, was also closed on Saturday due to the huge influx of patients, including those coming from Dadu, Mehar and Nawabshah.

Virus tally, deaths soar ever higher in Sindh

He said that the gravity of the issue had left many doctors and paramedics disturbed.

The doctor, however, assured that none of the infected employees were critically ill, maintaining, however, that the development was worrisome for patients visiting the facility.

Revealing on Saturday that 38 more people had died due to the novel coronavirus in Sindh while 1,247 new cases had been reported in the past 24 hours, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah expressed worry that the pandemic situation was going from bad to worse.

With the 69 deaths reported on Friday and Saturday, the death toll in Sindh has reached 465, while the total number of coronavirus cases has soared to 27,360.