Daily Times

The nationwide tally of COVID-19 patients soared past 4,000 on Tuesday, with 2,004 cases in Punjab, 986 in Sindh, 500 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 206 in Balochistan, 211 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 83 in Islamabad, and 19 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The virus has claimed 56 lives so far while at least 429 coronavirus patients have recovered.

With over 2,000 cases, Punjab accounts for more than half of Pakistan’s Covid-19 tally. At least 726 of the total cases in Punjab, which has carried out most tests among provinces, are zaireen from Pak-Iran Taftan border. The total number of coronavirus cases jumped to 986 in Sindh with the addition 54 new cases on Tuesday, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said. He said that 10,223 tests have been conducted so far, including 634 on Tuesday afternoon. The break-up of 986 the cases is: 159 in Hyderabad, two in Jamshoro, one in Badin, 12 in Tando Mohammad Khan, one in Sujawal, one in Dadu, seven in Shaheed Benazirabad, one in Sanghar, four in Naushehro Feroze, 274 in Sukkur, two in Ghotki, 13 in Larkana, one in Jacobabad, 159 in Karachi East, 66 in Karachi West, 110 in Karachi South, 93 in Karachi Central, 44 in Malir and 36 in Korangi.

The chief minister said 253 COVID-19 patients had recovered by Monday and 16 more recovered on Tuesday. “Thus the number of the patients recovered so far is 269, which is good news,” he said, adding that out of 269 cured patients, 183 are pilgrims and 86 others. At present 396 patients are in home isolation and 97 are at quarantine centres, he further said.

Four more coronavirus cases were confirmed in Balochistan, taking the provincial total to 206, Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani said. He said that 67 test results were received on Tuesday, out of which four were positive and 63 negative.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir also reported another case of coronavirus, taking the total to 19, according to the government’s Covid-19 website.

A doctor at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) Mardan who raised his voice against lack of personal protective equipment (PPEs) for healthcare workers at the facility has tested positive for Covid-19 and is now in isolation, the KP Young Doctors Association said. It regretted that the hospital’s medical superintendent had sought an explanation from Dr Ziaur Rehman, who is a medical officer at the DHQ Mardan’s casualty department, after he gave an interview to a TV channel in which he demanded PPEs for young doctors.

Meanwhile, 122 people kept in isolated quarantine facility in Sukkur on Tuesday were declared fit and healthy, said Commissioner Shafique Ahmed Mahesar. He said the recovered people including women are being transported to their homes. Those who have recovered are residents of Sindh’s various areas, he said. Sindh government’s spokesperson Murtaza Wahab Tuesday expressed concerns over a rapid increase in number of COVID-19 cases across Pakistan. “Pakistan’s got its 1st COVID-19 patient on 26th February. We got our 1,000th patient in 29 days. The 2,000th patient in 7 days, 3,000th patient in 5 days and probably the 4,000th patient in 3 days. This is how serious the situation is. Pakistaniyo plz wake up before it’s too late,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle.