Karachi’s positivity ratio down 3pc as fourth Covid wave grips AJK, other regions

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday said the number of active Covid-19 cases are now on a downward trend in the province, particularly in the provincial capital of Karachi where the positivity ratio has decreased to 21 per cent.

In a joint meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the Sindh CM said the port city had a positivity ratio of 24 per cent, but it has now decreased by 3 per cent.

The high-level meeting was informed that even though cases are decreasing in Karachi, the fourth wave was gripping other parts of Pakistan, especially the Azad Jammu Kashmir region, which is now reporting a positivity ratio of 26 per cent.

Sindh’s overall positivity rate is 13 per cent, while infections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are on the rise.

Read Are lockdowns the answer to Karachi’s air pollution?

Murad informed the NCOC that Sindh has entered week six of the fourth wave, which now seems to be subsiding gradually.

He added that 67 per cent of the infections in the provincial capital could be attributed to travellers returning from Lahore, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, Peshawar, and Islamabad and said the provincial capital has been hit particularly hard by the Delta variant of the pandemic.

At least 1,210 patients are in critical condition in the city and the fatality rate has witnessed an increase in Karachi, said Murad.

The chief minister also informed the meeting participants that in a bid to contain the spread of the pandemic, his government imposed a week-long lockdown across the province till Aug 8.

Speaking about the availability of hospital beds to cater for coronavirus patients, Murad said at present, there were a total of 1,120 oxygen beds, including 537 beds provided by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The Sindh government installed 583 more oxygen beds in hospitals from its own resources, he added. According to the CM, 100 beds are available at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, 75 beds at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, 100 beds at Eidgah Maternity, 150 beds at Expo, and 158 beds at specialised hospitals for Covid.

The meeting was attended by NCOC head Asad Umar, Lt. Gen. Hamoodul Zaman, CPEC Special Assistant Khalid Mansoor, Major General Mahmood, PM’s health aide Dr Faisal Sultan, Dr Sara Khan, Prof Saeed Qureshi along with provincial ministers Dr Azra Pechoho, Syed Nasir Shah, Syed Sardar Shah, Murtaza Wahab, Health Secretary Dr Kazim Jatoi, Qasim Soomro, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, IG Sindh Mushtaq Meher, and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Sajid Jamal Abro.