Out of the frying pan, into the fire

After 10 months of turmoil, it is feared the coronavirus may continue to haunt in 2021 as well

Borders closed, schools shut and businesses suspended- the year 2020 has been an interminable struggle for the country’s financial capital. Yet, amid the most uncertain of times, the city of 20 million, in some sense of stoicism, had pinned its hope on the dawn of 2021 to herald a new fate for the metropolis. Like the gospel truth, many had believed that the first light of January 1 will pierce through the dark cloud of Covid-19, which had, for months, gripped the world in its unforgiving bedlam.

However, although hope may have once helped the city triumph fear, it appeared on the eve of 2021 that much of it was perhaps misplaced and misread.

On December 29 2020, while Karachi was still facing the disease’s second wave, the provincial health department reported the city’s first case of a new Covid-19’s strain discovered in the United Kingdom. Said to be up to 70 per cent more transmissible, the new variant was detected in a passenger coming from the United Kingdom. Less than a day later, the number had spiked to three cases.

Much of the port city’s hope had stemmed from the jubilant months of August and September. At the time, the country, after various incremental lockdowns, appeared to be miraculously flattening the coronavirus curve for the first time in six months. None really knew what went right in those two months, but it was Karachi’s cue to revel. Masks came off, standard operating procedures (SOPs) were flouted, congregations resumed and the megacity was once again abuzz. In this collective consciousness, it was almost as if the pandemic had never existed.

By October, all the reveling of the previous month had started bearing its cursed fruit. Between November and December, the virus was once again seen to be peaking. During the same time, disease severity was noted to be at a concerning 10 per cent, while death rates also climbed sharply.

After a short-lived break, the city’s healthcare system yet again found itself struggling to deal with an onslaught of coronavirus-infected patients. Medical laboratories across Karachi reported a sudden increase in people seeking PCR tests for Covid-19. Around this time, a faster antigen test, which could yield results within an hour- compared to PCR’s 20-hour waiting time- was also introduced.

Hospital statistics

As per the provincial health department, 2.33 million suspects of Covid-19 were tested across Sindh till December 29. So far, 217,636 coronavirus cases have been reported in the province, from which 196,677 patients have recovered and a total 3,594 have regrettably died.

“Some 143,880 Covid-19 patients were reported in different districts of Karachi, out of which 126,173 patients have recovered while 2,880 died during treatment from February 24 to December 27. Whereas the number of active cases in Karachi is reported to be 14,757, as of this moment,” said Karachi Heath Director Dr. Nadeem Sheikh on Thursday.

Speaking in the same vein, Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi’s Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Noor Mohammad said that during the last 10 months, over 1,700 patients of Covid-19 had been admitted to the medical facility. Out of which, he admitted, over 1,480 have so far been discharged after recovery, while over 420 have died.

“In addition to that, the hospital’s Outpatient Department (OPD), during the same 10 months, registered a total of 55,200 patients. Among them, 581 were registered in March, 3,616 in April, 4,717 in May, 6,905 in June, 4,423 in July, 2,976 in August, 5,646 in September, 7,507 in October, 14,140 in November and 4,689 in December. The highest number of patients were reported in November and December,” the MS said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2021.