Daily Times

Sister Ruth Lewis, incharge at the Darul Sukoon organisation in Karachi, passed away from the novel coronavirus at the Aga Khan University Hospital, the organisation said in a statement on Tuesday. She was 77.

Sister Ruth had been admitted to the hospital since July 9, Darul Sukoon’s Human Resources Manager Tariq Samuel said. Samuel added that 21 children at Darul Sukoon had been infected with Covid-19 but Sister Ruth continued to serve them. She tested positive on July 8 and was taken to the hospital a day later, where she was placed on a ventilator.

The nationwide tally of Covid-19 patients soared to 266,927 on Tuesday, with 90,444 cases reported in Punjab, 114,104 in Sindh, 32,523 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11,441 in Balochistan, 1,868 in Gilgit Baltistan, 14,625 in Islamabad and 1,868 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The virus has claimed at least 5,667 lives while around 208,030 coronavirus patients have recovered so far.

Sindh reported 551 coronavirus cases and 22 deaths during the past 24 hours, according to Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. In a statement, he said 6,676 tests were carried out during this period. With the new cases, the provincial total has risen to 114,104 while the death toll has risen to 2,041. He added that 17,766 patients were currently under treatment.

Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab said the province has the lowest death rate and the highest recovery rate, in a press conference where he lashed out at the federal government for failing to control the coronavirus pandemic. He said that Sindh had conducted the most number of tests in the country. “To date, we have conducted over 449,900 tests in the province,” he said.

Punjab has reported 253 new Covid-19 cases, according to the government’s database on coronavirus, taking the provincial total to 90,444. The province has reported less than 300 cases for the first time since May 22. It has also reported seven additional fatalities taking the death toll to 2,090. More than 66,000 people have recovered from the virus in the province.

The Punjab government also issued a notification regarding the enforcement of a smart lockdown in areas of Sialkot, Rawalpindi, Gujrat and Gujranwala till July 27. According to the notification, all markets, restaurants, malls and offices in the areas will remain closed while grocery shops will be allowed to open from 9am to 7pm. Pharmacies and medical services will continue to be open 24 hours a day.

Islamabad has reported 26 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, according to the government’s Covid-19 portal, taking its total to 14,625. Gilgit Baltistan has reported 19 additional cases while Azad Jammu and Kashmir recorded seven, taking their tallies to 1,868 and 1,922, respectively. Islamabad also confirmed one more death from the virus while GB and AJK reported no additional fatalities.

Balochistan reported 28 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, raising the total to 11,469 with two more people succumbing to the disease, pushing the death toll to 135, the health ministry said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 280 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, raising the total to 32,523 with six more people succumbing to the disease, pushing the death toll to 1,153, the health ministry said.

According to the government’s Covid-19 portal, 2,101 more people have recovered from the coronavirus in Pakistan. This has taken the total number of recoveries to 208,030. The portal shows that 1,481 patients are in critical condition.