Covid-19 claims 41 more lives in Sindh
As the novel coronavirus claimed another 41 lives in the province overnight - the highest number of casualties recorded in a single day in Sindh so far in the second wave - as many as 1,726 fresh infections were detected on Monday.
Meanwhile, authorities expanded the smart lockdowns in place in Hyderabad, which has been struggling with one of the highest Covid-19 positivity ratios in the country in recent weeks.
It was Karachi, though, which showed the highest virus detection rate in Pakistan, with the National Command and Operation Centre stating on Monday that a staggering 21.31 per cent of samples tested in the provincial capital had turned out to be positive for Covid-19. Besides, 1,484 new cases were reported in the metropolis on Monday.
With the 41 deaths reported on the day, Sindh's virus death toll soared to 3,060, according to provincial chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. Meanwhile, 13.9 per cent of the 12,442 samples tested on the day were positive, pushing the Covid-19 tally in Sindh to date to 186,212.
The CM stated that 22,219 people were currently infected with the virus, of whom 21,350 were in home isolation, 857 were being treated in hospitals and 12 were admitted in isolation centres. He added that 769 patients were in critical condition, with 76 of them on ventilators.
Of the new cases, 43 emerged from Hyderabad, 20 from Thatta, 16 each from Jamshoro and Sanghar, 14 from Naushero Feroze, 12 each from Umerkot and Ghotki, 10 each from Tando Allahyar and Badin, nine each from Matiari and Shikarpur, eight from Sujawal, six each from Larkana and Shaheed Benazirabad, five from Jacobabad, three apiece from Mirpurkhas and Sukkur, and one from Tando Mohammad Khan.
Moreover, 1,352 patients recovered from Covid-19 overnight, lifting the number of recoveries in Sindh to 160,933.
Lockdown expands in Hyd
Meanwhile, more areas of Hyderabad were put under smart lockdown from Monday as authorities deal with the sudden resurgence of positive coronavirus cases amid the second wave of the pandemic.
Deputy commissioner Fuad Ghaffar Soomro notified the lockdowns on the day, as recommended by the district health office which identified the hotspots.
The areas under lockdown include Civil Lines, Dr Ziauddin Road, the surroundings of Jeejal Maa Hospital, Farid Plaza, Qasimabad Phase I, Sindhi Muslim Housing Society, Hirabad, Jail Road, Doctors' Colony, GOR Colony, parts of Tandojam and other areas.
There were as many as 1,493 active cases in Hyderabad as of Monday afternoon.
The timings for essential services like general stores, marts, bakeries, dairies, vegetable and fruit carts and shops has been reduced to seven hours - from 7am to 2pm. In Tandojam, essential services have been given an hour less and are allowed to open from 6am to 12noon.
But pharmacies are not under the same time restrictions.
Besides, public and social gatherings, including private home-based events, have been banned and public transport will not be allowed to ply on the roads in these areas. People heading out of their houses will also have to provide law enforcement agencies reasons for doing so.
Only partial enforcement of the lockdown, which is to remain in place till December 16, was witnessed on the first day of the new restrictions, though.
The authorities have tested 91,753 people for the coronavirus in Hyderabad over the past eight months and detected 8,025 infections. The virus has claimed 141 lives in the city thus far.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2020.