Covid-19 wards set up for health workers, inmates in Sindh

35 more virus deaths reported as province hits 67,353 coronavirus cases

KARACHI: With Sindh's coronavirus tally continuing to soar day by day, two separate Covid-19 wards have been set up for infected healthcare workers and prisoners at Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK).

A 10-bed ward was established for medical professionals working in different hospitals on Saturday, while another eight-bedded Covid-19 ward was set up for prisoners who have contracted the contagious disease.

CHK medical superintendent Dr Khadim Hussain Qureshi confirmed that these wards were ready for patients, adding that the second ward was established because of the increasing number of infected patients in prison hospitals. Around 1,300 inmates at the Karachi Central Jail have reportedly tested positive for the virus so far - over a third of the jail's population.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Dr Qureshi said that this was the first separate ward set up for health professionals infected with the virus.

He further claimed that most of the Covid-19 isolation wards in the city's hospitals were largely empty, with the majority of patients coming to medical facilities being those who needed immediate oxygen.



"A new wave of coronavirus has just entered the city. Most of the patients brought in over the last week were those with breathing difficulties," he explained, adding that while the isolation wards in his hospital had plenty of vacant beds, all the ventilators and high dependency unit beds were occupied with Covid-19 patients.

Discussing the state of critically ill patients, he said that it was difficult to maintain their oxygen saturation levels. "Such patients need ventilators, but that means very few chances of recovery," he added, stressing the gravity of the situation.

Coronavirus tally

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah revealed that as many as 2,190 fresh coronavirus cases were reported overnight in the province, while 35 more people succumbed to the virus.

The number of people infected with Covid-19 in Sindh has reached 67,353, while the province's death toll has soared to 1,048.

Shah shared that 20.2 per cent of the 10,830 samples tested on the day had turned out to be positive, whereas the ratio of the positive cases to the 364,959 samples tested to date stands at 18.2 per cent.

The CM further informed that 32,193 patients were currently under treatment, of which 30,504 were in home isolation, 1,627 were being treated at different hospitals and 62 were quarantined at isolation centres.

Moreover, he apprised, 700 patients were in critical condition, of whom 116 had been shifted on ventilators.



On the other hand, 1,387 more patients regained health from the virus, taking the tally of recovered people to 34,112.

Meanwhile, the provincial capital saw 1,315 new Covid-19 cases emerging on Saturday, said Shah, with the district-wise break up showing 360 fresh cases in East district, 346 in South, 185 in Malir, 165 in Central, 140 in West and 119 in Korangi district.

Moreover, 123 people were diagnosed with the virus in Khairpur, 111 in Hyderabad, 79 in Ghotki, 76 in Sukkur, 33 in Mirpurkhas, 31 in Larkana, 30 in Naushero Feroze, 28 in Dadu, 16 in Sanghar, 12 in Shaheed Benazirabad, 11 in Kashmore, eight in Jamshoro, six each in Badin and Umerkot, five apiece in Sujawal and Tando Allahyar, three in Jacobabad three, two in Thatta and one in Matiari.